


Rainfall Reggae

by gnarf



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alcohol, And there was only one Tent, Banter, Draco has a problem with people peeing against fences, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Festivals, Forced Proximity, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Hogwarts Eighth Year, Humor, Kissing, M/M, Mud, Muggle Studies, Mutual Wanking, POV Harry Potter, Rain, Recreational Drug Use, Sharing A Tent, Weed, cocktails, surviving a Muggle festival
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2020-10-04 00:37:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 26,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20462159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gnarf/pseuds/gnarf
Summary: What had promised to be a nightmare weekend, camping at a Muggle music festival with the last person he would have ever picked, unexpectedly turned out to be the most fun and exciting thing he had done in ages.Who could have possibly guessed that a wet muddy weekend—withMalfoyof all people—could be such ahighlight?Or the one where Harry has to camp (again), Malfoy has no idea how Muggle things work, and people keep comparing them to an old married couple, all while the weather is rather suboptimal.





	Rainfall Reggae

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RuArcher (Coriesocks)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coriesocks/gifts).

> Thank you at my lovely beta Drarryismymuse 💜 who powered through this fic and left so many nice comments!  
And thank you to Meandminniemcg for helping me find a title because I'm absolutely useless there 💜
> 
> Enjoy!

Harry stared blankly at the desk in front of him. He had no idea what he was doing here, why he had come back to Hogwarts thinking this year would be different than the previous years only because they got rid of Riddle. 

Something deep inside him had told him that going back to Hogwarts wasn't a good idea, that history stood against his high hopes. But who could have guessed that this was how his life would end; and all because he had the unfortunate luck to grow up with the Dursleys as a Muggle. 

"Mr. Potter, you surely understand why this decision was made, don't you?" 

'To end my life for good,' was the first answer that shot through his mind but instead of saying that he bit his lip and stared at Mr Jacobson. 

"Potter, don't you even dare say it!" came McGonagall's shrill voice from somewhere behind his new Muggle Studies teacher. 

Not for the first time, he wondered if she could read his mind, or if it was due to the fact that she had been responsible for sorting out his run-ins with trouble over the past seven years. "But Headmistress—" 

"No. You may leave to join your classmates now. The topic for your team assignment will be handed out tomorrow and I don't want to hear any complaints about anything for the rest of this year."

Harry stood and turned to leave the room but before he could close the door behind him Mr Jacobson's sorrowful voice sounded up again. "The war is over, Mr. Potter. Please try and let the past rest. If not for him, do it for yourself."

Straightening his back, Harry closed the door without looking back at the two people behind the desk. 

He didn't know _ how _ he was supposed to bury the past. Of course he knew he should, knew it wasn't healthy to hold onto it, not after everything that had happened. But pretending that they were still on the same ground was so much easier than facing the fact that they weren't. 

Entering the eighth year’s common room, Harry stomped off to the room he shared with Ron—and most nights Hermione as well—and threw his glasses onto the nightstand before flopping face down onto Ron's bed where the others were already waiting for him. 

"What did they say?" Hermione asked, only out of politeness. Harry knew that she already knew the answer. 

Huffing into the pillow, Harry didn't even lift his head to answer. "No. Of course they said no." Turning his head to the side he looked at his friends. "Why can't they give me a break? That's honestly the only thing I've asked for this year. It can't be that hard to—" 

"Mate that's—" Ron started, "why can't they partner us together? I don’t know anything about the Muggle world; the whole thing about this year's Muggle Studies is to teach people like me how things work without magic. Easiest way to do that is if my friend shows me!"

"I know, right? And it's also stupid that I'll be alone with the git! Most groups have three to five people! Why—" 

"It's the easiest solution for them," Hermione said quietly. "You won't hurt him. And he wouldn't dare to hurt you. If they put him into a group of people you know that it wouldn't end well."

"I don't give a fuck, Hermione. I just wanted a quiet year for once, nothing else. I don't want to play babysitter for the stupid git!"

"Yeah, I know. But it's only logical—" 

"You know what," Harry said, already sitting up to see where his glasses had landed, "I'll go for a walk. And if I run into Malfoy I'll punch him and hope that's enough to not be stuck on a 'team' with him."

"That would only make it worse you nitwit!" Hermione called after him, but Harry ignored her and slammed the door shut behind him. 

He needed to get some air, the castle suddenly felt too crowded to breathe. Sprinting through their common room and down the flight of stairs he pushed open the doors and headed straight towards the Great Lake. Taking deep breaths, he tried to relax to the smell of the blooming wildflowers spotting the grounds around him. He wasn't sure if it helped, but it was better than staying inside and complaining about how unfair everything was. 

After walking for some time he sat down behind a group of trees and closed his eyes. He knew Hermione was right, and McGonagall as well. And of course Mr Jacobson. They all were right, and he had no reason to be mad about anything, but he was. Returning to Hogwarts wasn't a decision he had made easily. After everything that happened here, after the Final Battle, he wasn't sure if he could come back. But this was the best place to hide from the world, and he wasn't keen to see his face frowning at him from a dozen different newspapers everyday. 

He thought he was alone with feeling this way when he watched everyone else board the Hogwarts Express while laughing with their friends, the same ecstatic anticipation as every year filling the air around them. But at the welcome feast he had realised he wasn't the only one who wasn't too happy to be back but had returned nevertheless. 

Malfoy, of course it had to be Malfoy. He hadn't looked up once the entire night. Instead he had stared down at his plate and then left the Great Hall with his friends; repeating the same process every day since. Even while it made him feel less alone in his suffering, it nevertheless made Harry furious that Malfoy was behaving like that. He should be thankful that he got away with everything, that Harry spoke at his trial, that he was even allowed to return. But instead he stared down at his plate, or his desk, and didn't give a fuck about anything happening around him. He hadn't even thanked Harry for helping him, not that he wanted that, but the git could at least look up and acknowledge his presence for once. 

Hogwarts had started nearly a month ago and Malfoy hadn’t found it necessary to even look up once. Harry had no idea how, after everything that happened, he could still deem himself better than everyone else. And today, when Mr Jacobson announced that they'd have to team up together, Malfoy still showed no reaction of any kind. 

Harry picked up a handful of rocks and threw them into the lake, watching the small waves lap away from the shore. But not even that helped, he was still angry about their new project and especially so that he would have to waste his time teaching Malfoy stuff about the Muggle world. He already knew this wouldn't end well and that it'd be more frustrating than anything he'd done so far. 

"Look Neville! I told you I saw rocks flying out from behind the trees!" a voice behind him said excitedly. 

Turning around, Harry saw Luna grinning at him before looking back behind the trees where presumably Neville was walking towards them. 

"Is it a mermaid then or did you run all the way for no reason?" came Neville’s exasperated voice from somewhere not far away. 

"Oh no, it's just Harry! But it's just as lovely to see him here! Do you care if we sit with him? He looks like he needs some company to drag him away from his thoughts."

Finally Neville emerged from behind the trees, a small grin on his face as he looked first at Luna then at Harry. "Sure, why not! Hi Harry! Care if we join you?" 

Harry wanted to answer, wanted to tell them he'd prefer to be alone, that he wasn't feeling well, but before he could do so Luna sat down next to him. 

"Of course not, silly! Come and sit with us!" 

Harry stared at Neville who smiled apologetically as he shrugged his shoulders and sat down next to her. 

"Still angry about today's class?" Neville asked him as he pulled a bag of cookies from his robes and handed them to Luna. 

"Yes." Harry said shortly, ignoring Luna's attempt to silently slip a cookie into his hand. 

"So talking to McGonagall and Jacobson didn't work?" Neville said, taking the cookie from Luna's hand instead. "That sucks."

"What's the matter?" she asked looking between the two of them. 

"Harry got partnered with Malfoy; he's not happy about it. Obviously."

"Oh! But Draco isn't that bad, he spent lots of time with me while I was at the Manor. He's just as unhappy to be here as we are."

"You don't look very unhappy to me," Harry said with a huff. 

"Oh that's because we've been smoking!" Luna said excitedly, unaffected by Neville's panicked outcry next to her. "Oh shush! Harry is our friend, we can share with him!" 

"But what if—" 

"Smoking? You're smoking?" Harry said, staring at them with huge eyes. Luna never failed to distract him, but he didn't expect something like this. "I don't see how smoking cigarettes could help me not feel unhappy about the fact that I have to spend time with Malfoy."

"Uhm, actually, it's not cigarettes," Neville said, his face glowing red as he rubbed his neck. 

"Neville was able to grow weed before we came back! Have you heard of that stuff? It's brilliant! But you do get very hungry from it."

Harry stared, disbelieving, at Neville, who wasn't quite managing to look at him and instead was helping himself to another cookie that Luna helpfully provided. 

"Weed, Neville? Really?" 

"It's not that bad! I mean, yeah, there's a lot of negativity about it in the Muggle world, I know. But honestly, have you ever tried it? I don't get why they talk so badly about it. The only thing it does is make you happy, hungry, and maybe a bit sleepy."

Harry didn't know what to say. His aunt and uncle had always raged against those 'hippies' and how criminal they were so Harry had never thought of trying it himself. But now as he watched Luna munch happily on her cookie and Neville, who was still red but otherwise very relaxed, he couldn't help but get curious. 

"I want to try it." He knew he'd probably regret this impulsive decision later like he had with so many other impulsive decisions before, but he couldn't care less. 

"Wh—Are you sure?" Neville asked, staring at him like an owl on New Year’s Eve. 

"Yes," Harry said with a sure voice. "Wouldn't be the first time I’ve trusted you with a plant I don't know. Last time it worked pretty well for me."

Grinning, Neville reached into another pocket of his robes and a few minutes later Harry held a badly rolled joint and a lighter in his shaking hands. 

"Just don't use magic after smoking that," Neville said with a knowing look on his face while Luna burst out laughing, promising Harry that he really didn't want to know what happened. 

"So how do I—" Harry asked, unsure of what to do now. 

"Oh!" Luna said. "Wait, I'll show you!" Taking the joint from Harry's hands, she turned on the lighter and burned the tip before blowing on it. The small flame vanished and smoke filled the air around them. 

Taking a breath, Harry noticed that it didn't smell like cigarettes at all. The smell was much nicer, richer, than the burning stench of cigarettes. 

"Now you take it—inhale, hold it for a second or two, and then breathe out. That's it. You'll probably cough the first few times."

Harry's heart hammered in his chest as he took the joint back. Looking at Neville, he let out a long breath before gathering all his courage and taking a pull. 

He instantly coughed and dropped the joint into the grass before pummelling his chest. 

Luna laughed as she picked up the dropped joint and took a pull herself before handing it over to Neville who sent her a sweet smile. 

Once Harry stopped coughing, Neville looked at him with a smile. "Wanna try it again? Now you know what's waiting for you and are prepared."

Harry held out his hand and took the joint back. Taking another, this time careful, drag of it he got ready to cough again, but Neville was right. He tried it again, a bit firmer, and when he still didn't feel the need to cough he handed it back to Luna. 

Leaning back he started to grin. He felt no effects yet, but it was still exciting to share this with two of his best friends; knowing they trusted him with something that was probably illegal in the magical world, and definitely forbidden at Hogwarts, made him downright happy. 

The joint was passed a few times between the three of them until they nearly burnt their fingertips. And before Harry realised what was happening he was munching on his own load of cookies and laughing about nothing with his friends. 

He couldn't care less about Malfoy right now. 

After emptying the bag of cookies they made their way back to the castle. Harry was still giddy as he pulled Luna into a tight hug and wished her a good night before they parted ways. Following Neville towards the eighth years quarter he couldn't have been happier. 

"Wanna join me again tomorrow?" Neville asked carefully as they walked into the common room. 

"Absolutely! Thanks for tonight, Nev. I never thought it'd be that good to be honest."

"Told you it's not that bad! I don't get the fuss everyone makes about it, honestly. And you'll get used to the burn," Neville said, a huge, happy grin on his face. 

"Well if you ask me I did very well tonight, thanks," Harry laughed before hugging Neville and leaving the room to go straight to bed, ignoring Parkinson's screeched '_ Draco! _'. 

Harry couldn't remember the last time he had a full night’s sleep, not even Ron's snoring woke him. But his good mood vanished instantly when he got the information about what his group assignment was going to be. The irony slapped him straight in his face. 

"Camping? They can't be serious?" Ron panted as Harry showed him the assignment over dinner. 

"Yes, camping. At a Muggle festival. As if I would fancy spending another night in a bloody tent ever again! Let alone having to help the git set up his tent! And we can't even use magic there! Last year we could at least use our wands to cook our food when we had something to eat!"

"Fuck. I'm sorry mate, this really sucks. And it's a few days in a row on top of it. At least our project is split into three weekends."

Harry stared down at the piece of parchment lying between them: they would leave on a Thursday morning and were supposed to be back on Sunday morning. Brilliant, just brilliant. 

Staring across the Hall he tried to find the well-known shine of blond hair at the Slytherin table, but he wasn't there and neither were his noisy friends. Sighing in annoyance he looked at McGonagall and shot her his best spiteful look, which was rewarded by a similar one from her that clearly left no room for discussion. 

It looked like he wouldn't be able to find a way out of this. He was going to be forced to visit a tiny Muggle music festival with Malfoy, and no magic. 

"Do you think they chose a small festival to make it easier to obliviate everyone in case one of us kills the other one?" Harry asked while poking the food on his plate. 

"That won't happen," Hermione said while looking up from the paper she had been furiously scribbling on since they sat down. "You won't kill him because the only spell you use regularly enough to master without a wand is Expelliarmus, and he won't kill you because he can't even hurt a fly."

"Oh the faith you have in me, brilliant, Mione. That helps a lot. But I can't promise you that I won't suffocate him with my sleeping bag if he annoys the crap out of me."

"Hey guys!" came a voice behind Harry, and Ron and Hermione looked up with a smile. 

"Hi Neville!" Hermione said, "I'm already planning our first trip to London!" 

"Can't wait for you to show me around! Harry have you finished eating? I promised Luna I’d help her and Hagrid with the Thestrals before we go for our walk, you can help too if you want." 

Looking down at his plate he put his cutlery down and stood up. "Yeah, I haven't seen a lot of Hagrid since I came back, could be nice."

"So that's where you went last night? We were worried you'd do something stupid when you left," Hermione said, glancing reproachfully at him. 

"Well, to everyone's apparent surprise, I didn't," Harry said shortly while taking his parchment from the table. 

Joining Neville they walked away, but Hermione's annoyed "glad Neville is with him, at least he'll make sure Harry won't get into trouble," followed them through the row of students and nearly made Harry laugh out loud. 

Slipping out the front door, Harry took a deep breath and followed Neville towards the Forbidden Forest. 

"You know, I never wanted to go back to this godforsaken forest. I’ve really had enough of it to last a lifetime," Harry said when the shadows beneath the trees came into view. 

"You don't have to go in there. We could meet at the pumpkin patch when we're done," Neville's voice was thick with worry. 

"Nah. This time I'm not going in there to die so it'll be fine. And I think it'll help Hagrid...things have been—_ difficult _—for us lately. He had to carry me out of the forest and it might help if we replace that image, what do you think?" 

"I'm not a mind healer, I have no idea if that'll work. But you can try, and if it doesn't, well, I can organise us some whisky and we'll drink until those memories are gone for good."

"Sounds like a plan."

Neville smiled at him before passing the small line of bushes marking the border between the castle's grounds and the part of the forest where the Thestrals lived. 

Looking over his shoulder, Harry saw Hogwarts in the far distance, neat and tidy as if nothing had ever happened within its old walls, and that view somehow reassured him. Maybe—he thought, walking through the bushes himself—maybe all of them could heal, rebuild themselves just like the castle. It might take some more time, but in the end they could be fixed, just like Hogwarts. 

Harry grinned as the clearing came into sight and he saw Luna and Hagrid. They were sat on the ground and were petting a tiny Thestral that was just a bit bigger than Hagrid's hand. 

"Neville! Harry!" Luna said excitedly as she spotted them. "Look! There's a baby! Hagrid said it must have been born last night!" 

"'arry! Good ter see yeh! Bin a while!" Hagrid called out, a huge smile spreading over his face. "'ey Neville!" 

Harry hadn't thought it possible, but feeding the Thestrals and checking their leathery wings for injuries felt good. It gave him something to do while chatting with Hagrid about his classes. He left out the details about his Muggle Studies project even knowing Hagrid would be on his side; there was no need to make him angry when he looked so happy about spending time with them. 

An hour later they said their goodbyes, declining Hagrid's invite to stay for a cuppa whisky, and walked towards the Great Lake. 

Sitting down behind the trees again, Harry watched as Neville pulled out his tobacco and papers while Luna searched for something in her bag. 

With a loud "Aha!" Luna threw a bag of crisps at him and Harry caught them before they could hit his face. Harry was relieved that she didn't try the same stunt with the bottle of water she pulled out next. 

"So what's your assignment for Muggle Studies? You didn't look happy," Neville said while licking the papers in his hands. 

"Visiting a Muggle music festival. I can't tell you how sick I am of sleeping in a tent."

"Oh Merlin, and no magic? Sure you can handle that?" 

"No. I bet I'll kill him after only one day."

"You should teach Harry how to make those lovely things and give him something to smoke at that festival!" Luna chimed in. "No matter what happens Harry won't care, and maybe Draco will speak for once."

"Not sure if we want them to speak Lu, might make it worse."

"Oh we want them to speak! Believe me!" 

"You realise that I'm sitting right here, don’t you? I can hear you. And believe me, we don't want us to speak! But I'll gladly take something to smoke with me, at least I'll survive the weekend then."

"Sure! This stuff loved my greenhouse—I have so much of it I could feed the squid and still smoke six joints everyday for the rest of the year. I think it's the easiest plant I ever grew, it's so thankful for every little piece of magic and dung it gets."

"You could make a lot of money with this," Harry laughed. 

"Or I could smoke it with my friends," Neville said, smiling as he lit the tip of the joint. 

* * *

"Good morning Mr Potter, Mr Malfoy. I'm glad you found the time to come discuss your assignment before you leave in an hour. I believe this will make things easier." Mr Jacobson nodded towards the chairs in front of his desk and waited for them to sit down. 

Harry did as told, but not without waiting to see if Malfoy would also move to sit or if the git would refused to acknowledge their presence as he had done the entire time before. Even while waiting for their appointment at the closed door he hadn't looked up once, and Harry's level of annoyance climbed faster than Gryffindor house points at the end of the year. 

"You must know that the only items you have to pack are your clothes as we organised everything else for you. It'll be handed to you when you're due to leave. It is very important that you take your assignment seriously—you can't use magic. If it's absolutely necessary you can perform wandless magic inside your tent, restricted to whatever you can manage as long as it stays unnoticed. Any questions?"

Harry thought for a second before remembering the troubles they had encountered last year. "Yeah, I have one. What about food? Last year we could at least use magic if we had something to eat, how am I supposed to eat when I can't use magic? You surely haven't bought a camping stove for us."

"We have, and canned food, and the Headmistress packed you a never-ending stack of her biscuits. Believe me when I say that you'll have more than enough food for the few days you'll be there. And no matter how small, those festivals always sell something to eat as well."

Looking at Harry, Mr Jacobson waited for additional questions, and when he stayed quiet his eyes wandered to Malfoy. 

"Mr Malfoy, I know this will be a new experience for you, but I'm sure Mr Potter will answer any arising questions and will help you navigate through the Muggle world. Is there anything you need to know, any troubles that need to be taken care of before you leave?" 

Harry didn't expect the git to say anything at all and already prepared to leave to pack the rest of his stuff. Naturally, it came as a huge surprise when he heard Malfoy's hoarse voice for the first time since they had come back. 

"I have nothing to wear. Nothing I could wear around Muggles and at a festival at least. I asked someone, they said I have to get different clothes, but I don't know where." 

Malfoy's voice was barely audible and Harry suppressed a huff, of course he had nothing to wear. And of course he had to bring that up the day they had to leave. But Mr Jacobson didn't seem annoyed. 

"That could indeed be a problem, good thinking Mr Malfoy. Mr Potter, would you mind lending him some of your clothes? I know you have enough, I never see you wearing robes outside of class."

At that Harry stared at him in shock, he wasn't sure if his ears were playing a trick on him there. "Malfoy hates my clothes, he wouldn't wear them even if I said yes."

"Would you wear Mr Potter's clothes this weekend? We could also see what the lost and found closet has to offer."

"I'll wear them." 

Harry looked over to Malfoy so fast his neck nearly snapped, but he couldn't care less. This whole assignment already felt surreal to him; at this point he was starting to believe that everything was a huge joke just to see how much he could take before they had to put him into the closed ward at St. Mungo's. 

"Good, Mr Potter take Mr Malfoy with you and give him something to wear. You know just as well as I do that he can't walk around in robes or suits there. I'll meet you outside in an hour, you'll get to the festival by Portkey so be on time."

Harry only realised that this meant they were dismissed when Malfoy stood up and was obviously waiting for him to do the same.

Walking into their common room, Harry already felt anger rising in his chest. It was bad enough that he had to play his babysitter, but now he had to dress Malfoy on top of it! 

"I swear if I hear even one complaint about any of my clothes, Malfoy," Harry said as he reached his room and marched straight to his closet, "I'll take a taxi back to London and leave you there on your own."

"I won't, thank you."

That answer was so unexpected that Harry turned around and gawked at Malfoy for a second before snapping back to reality and opening the closet doors. "Good, take what you need, don't forget to pack something warm as well. And I want the stuff back when we return!" 

Nodding, Malfoy took Harry's place in front of the closet and started to collect a few pieces without throwing everything around like a Niffler searching for gold. 

Pleasantly surprised, Harry turned his back to him and packed the rest of his stuff into the backpack he had gotten from Mr Jacobson along with his assignment. 

When Malfoy turned around, clearly done with picking out clothes, Harry studied the small pile in his arms and sighed in annoyance before going back to his wardrobe. 

"You'll need more. It might rain, you'll get dirty, it's cold at night, and we can't use magic to clean our clothes, or dry them. Here," rummaging through his clothes he stacked piece after piece on top of Malfoy's sorry excuse of a try to gather enough to wear. "And socks, you need twice as many as usual. It's better to have a few pieces too much than too few."

Looking at Malfoy's blank face, Harry tried to see if Malfoy had understood what he just said, but there wasn't the tiniest hint of _ anything _to be found there so Harry gave up. This would be the worst weekend he would have to spend in a tent ever. 

"Go and stuff that into your backpack, I don't want to fail this stupid assignment because we're late."

With another nod Malfoy left his room and Harry threw himself onto his bed, a loud groan escaping him. All of this was more than frustrating. He didn't like this quiet version of Malfoy, the one that never looked up and never spoke. Harry had no real reason to be angry at Malfoy for behaving like that, which made him even angrier at the git. Returning to Hogwarts was the worst idea he had ever had in his long history of bad ideas. 

Deciding that it wouldn't help to bathe in self-pity any longer, Harry got up and made his way to the door. At least he wouldn't be late. 

Throwing his backpack over his shoulder, Harry went through his mental checklist one last time to check if he had everything and left his room. 

When he reached the front door Harry wasn't surprised to find he was the first one there. Sitting down on the grass next to the path, he leaned back and enjoyed the few rays of sunshine that had managed to sneak their way through the clouds. There was at least something positive about leaving today: he'd miss two extremely boring days of classes without getting in trouble, though he wasn't yet sure at what cost. 

"Ah Potter, everything packed? Where's Mr Malfoy?" 

Harry turned around to see McGonagall and Mr Jacobson strutting towards him, levitating their camping gear with them. With a heavy sigh, that earned him a most annoyed look from the Headmistress, he stood up and brushed the dirt off of his jeans. 

"Packing his clothes, I think. He should be here soon."

"Good. We got your gear, everything should be here, Mr Jacobson made sure you have everything you'll need."

"Yeah, I bet he did," Harry mumbled under his breath while the Headmistress and Mr Jacobson looked back towards the doors, obviously waiting for them to open. 

When they finally did, Harry gawked at what he saw. Malfoy was dressed in normal clothes with his hair pulled up into a lazy bun, and he was a sight to behold. 

"Ah there he is!" Mr Jacobson said way too excitedly. "Good, now last check. You have your clothes and we organised your gear. You can't use magic so to prevent that we have to ask you to give us your wands; they'll be secured until you come back. I know it's a lot we're asking for, but it's for the best. We don't want the Ministry to turn up there, eh? Your task is easy: visit a few bands and don't starve. Mr Potter, you're the one who knows how to move around Muggles so I want you to be around Mr Malfoy at all times. Mr Malfoy, I want you to stick to Mr Potter. There won't be any wandering off alone, or throwing fits, this is supposed to teach the two of you something. We'll see if it did when you come back."

"Is there any particular thing that I'm supposed to show Malfoy or—" 

"No. I know what he should know after spending a few days at a Muggle festival and I'll question the two of you after you return. Try and have some fun, that's all I'm asking you to do."

_ 'Fun', _Harry thought. Sure, easiest thing to accomplish with Malfoy never leaving his side. Stealing the golden egg from a raging dragon was an easier task. 

McGonagall levitated the pile of camping gear next to Harry and carefully sat it down. With a nod towards it she indicated for them to pick it up. 

Swinging his backpack back over his shoulders, Harry gathered half of the gear and stepped back for Malfoy to take the rest. As soon as all of the stuff was in their arms, McGonagall nodded approvingly. 

"I'll leave it to Mr Jacobson to show you out. Please behave like the grown-ups you are supposed to be; I don't want to explain to Kingsley why they have to send half the Ministry to a small Muggle festival near London."

Harry didn't answer, he only nodded at her and decided to try his best. She was right, he really should spare Kingsley the trouble of sending everything Muggle Relations related to clean up their mess. Even if he really hoped she'd forget—

"Your wands, gentlemen. Please."

Grumbling, Harry reached into his pocket and handed her his wand and watched as Malfoy did the same. That satisfied the Headmistress and she turned around and left them to follow a happily humming Mr Jacobson towards the gates of Hogwarts. 

"Your Portkey will both take you there and bring you back to Hogwarts. You'll land in a small forest but you'll be able to easily find your way to where you're supposed to be. I think everything necessary has been said, so have fun—but not too much—I know how festivals are and I don't want you back here with alcohol poisoning in a few hours."

Grinning, he handed them an old seatbelt and turned around to walk back to Hogwarts, leaving them behind to stare at the thing in their hands while waiting for it to take them away. 

The silence grew heavy around them and Harry let out a sigh, looking everywhere but at Malfoy. 

Rocking back and forth, Harry let out another sigh. It felt like ten minutes had passed already, but he wasn't sure. 

Another eternity later and still nothing had happened. He couldn't help but glance at Malfoy, who was still standing and staring at the thing in his hand. 

"That's a seatbelt. In case they ask. Muggles use it to—" 

A pull behind his navel tore Harry away from Scotland and threw him straight into a forest where he landed with a loud snap. Whether it came from a dried branch or his ankle, he couldn't be sure. 

Looking around, he found Malfoy struggling to get out of some bushes and Harry had to bite his cheeks to not laugh out loud. When Malfoy finally stepped next to him a twig was stuck in his hair and he was still trying to brush off small leaves from where they stuck to his clothes. 

After watching him for a moment Harry tried to figure out what to do next, they were in the middle of a forest and had no idea where to go. 

"You hear that?" Malfoy stopped and turned his head to look to their left with a furrowed brow. 

Following Malfoy's gaze, Harry suddenly heard low voices in the far distance. "Yep. That must be the festival. Let's go and get this over with, it can't be worse than summer break."

He could do four days without magic, Harry knew that. He hadn't had to for a while now, but compared to the weeks at the Dursley’s, those four days would pass in an instant. Though he wasn't sure if Malfoy had ever had to relinquish his magic. Wondering if it would be impolite to ask if he had ever had to, Harry started to walk towards the voices. 

It didn't take long before some kind of drums mixed into the general noise the people were making, and when they emerged from the small forest they were met by a fence which obviously marked the border of the festival. 

"Oy, bit lost?" a man grinned at them while he zipped up his trousers. "Entry's round the corner! Hurry up or ya have to take a spot with no shade all day long!" 

Left a comment at Dursleys above halp

"Thanks!" Harry called after him before he rolled his eyes at a now obviously startled Malfoy who was trying to cope with either the man peeing at the fence or the sheer mass of Muggles in front of them. "Come on now, he's right. No shade all day sucks."

But when Malfoy still didn't move, Harry sighed in annoyance and reached for the sleeping bag the git was carrying over his shoulder. "We'll survive, let's go now!" 

Reaching the gate, Harry pulled out the envelope with their assignment to get the included tickets out. It wasn't easy to handle his share of their camping stuff, make sure they got inside, and not lose Malfoy in the crowd. 

When they finally passed the security control Harry walked them straight towards the forest to get a shadowy place near the fence. 

"Potter we can't stay by that fence!" Malfoy suddenly hissed behind him as he recognised where Harry was leading them. "People pee there! I don't want to sleep in pee!" 

"That's not where we're going to stay," Harry said, annoyed, while he marched on. He wanted to reach the empty field in the corner before someone else did. There were trees on two sides and nobody close, so probably not used as a toilet yet. He would never say it out loud, but he agreed with Malfoy here. He wasn't too keen to sleep in everyones piss. “Though, I'm pleasantly surprised that the prospect of sleeping in piss finally got you to say something—I was starting to worry about that, I’ve had enough of people being replaced by others, I don't want a second Moody encounter.”

Seemingly this was enough talking because Malfoy stayed quiet, no matter Harry's concerns of him being replaced. But at least it was a start, and if Harry didn't imagine it, Malfoy's face sported the hint of a pout. Grinning to himself, Harry finally reached the spot he had chosen for them. Dropping the gear, he stretched his back before setting to work. 

"I'll build up my tent, you can start on yours, there should be a manual. When I'm done I'll help you before we unpack the stuff they gave us."

Hearing nothing from Malfoy he turned around to check if he understood what Harry had said and was greeted by a look of sheer confusion. 

"The long one, white bag with a zip, that's the tent you carried. The manual is in there, it's brand new. I'll help you when I finish mine. Start by unpacking it and looking at the manual."

Emptying his bag, Harry threw the tent poles onto the ground and fished for the manual to check what his was supposed to look like when finished before sticking everything together and shoving the poles into the loops where they belonged. 

Twenty minutes later, Harry was sweaty and close to Apparating straight back to Hogwarts while he tried to stick the last tent peg into the dry ground. He already missed the clouds that nearly always covered the sky above them there. 

Letting out a relieved sigh as he felt the damn thing slide into the ground, he fell back onto the grass. He didn't even want to look at the disaster that was Malfoy behind him. Last time he checked the git was still sat on the ground and staring at the manual in his hands as if he couldn't find any sense in it. 

"Potter, my tent has no ground, and only three side pieces."

"What the—Malfoy, please don't be stupid. Why would your tent have only three sides? You're not building a malfunctioning pyramid." Harry really didn't want to get up, he needed a break, or a prolonged holiday. Anything but explaining a simple manual to Malfoy. 

His hopes were destroyed as he heard footsteps stomping his way. And before he could react, a piece of paper was smashed against his chest. 

"I'm not stupid. It's not a tent. Look for yourself you—" Malfoy broke off and shut his mouth, waiting for Harry to look at the manual himself. 

Pinching his nose, Harry adjusted his glasses and took a look at the paper in his hands. 

"That's a Pop-up canopy," Harry said surprised. "Where's your tent?" 

"There isn’t one. We have yours, and this thing. I've checked it thrice."

Harry still checked the small heap for another tent himself, but just like Malfoy, he couldn't find one. Realisation hit him hard, like a brick thrown at his face, there was only one tent. He had to share his tent with Malfoy. 

Turning back to Malfoy, he watched as his face fell when he spotted Harry's, probably similar, horrified expression. "No. They can't be—" 

"They're serious. There's only one."

"I'm not sharing a tent with you!" 

"Well it's either that or one of us has to sleep on the ground and that won't be me! Figure it out on your own. Now let's build this thing up so I can drink a beer to survive this!" 

They managed to put the thing together within five minutes; Malfoy had stared long enough at the manual to know what needed to be done. Leaving Malfoy to get the pegs into the ground, Harry grabbed his air mattress and sleeping bag and vanished into the tent to set them up before Malfoy could block the entire thing purposefully. 

Just as he finished he heard a rustle from the entrance. Turning around, he found Malfoy staring down at him before inspecting the limited space they had.

"This is what a Muggle tent looks like? There isn't even enough space to stand in here!" 

"I liked you better when you were silent. Either you put your stuff in here and blow up your mattress without complaining, or you can sleep outside where a ton of mosquitoes will hopefully eat you alive. That's entirely up to you, I couldn't care less."

Huffing, Malfoy turned around and left again. Harry couldn't believe how infuriating Malfoy was no matter what he did. Hopping from one extreme to the other didn't help Harry's nerves at all. 

He needed a beer. But there was still stuff left to set up. 

Emerging into the now enclosed canopy, he gawked at Malfoy, who sat on the ground, red faced and with a nearly filled air mattress—and seemingly with every intention to really sleep there instead of in the tent. 

Shaking his head, Harry thought he'd be damned before he'd complain about that. 

Throwing his backpack into the tent, he set up his camping chair and the folding table before rummaging through the supplies they had packed for them. 

He was relieved to see that the 'no magic' rule obviously didn't count toward their box filled with food. They had enough water and juice to survive the weekend, seemingly packed with a few layers of cooling charms. Digging deeper, Harry found lots of canned food and some sandwiches and—underneath everything, hidden away from sight—two large packs of canned beer. 

Deciding he'd kiss Mr Jacobson if they ever made it back, he took one and opened it with a happy sigh. Taking the first sip while watching Malfoy nearly faint over blowing up his mattress...was what heaven must feel like. 

At least until Malfoy was done setting his makeshift bed up. 

"And now?" 

"Now," Harry said, taking another sip of the cold beer, "now we wait. Beer?" 

"Wait for what?" 

"For Sunday. That's it. You set up your stuff, you drink, you go and see some bands, you eat, you sleep, and you pee against fences. Welcome to Muggle festivals. If you want a beer you should get one before I open that canopy to see how many people there are. Believe me, this will be much easier if you drink. But be careful, you might accidentally have some fun; we can't risk a Malfoy having fun around Muggles, that'd be a scandal."

"Think you're funny, Potter?" Malfoy snarled back.

"I tend to be hilarious at times, yes. Thanks for asking."

Harry didn't miss Malfoy's glance towards their modified cool box at that. Grinning, he fished another beer out and threw it towards Malfoy, who caught it and opened the can with a glowering look towards Harry. 

Three beers later, Harry had to get rid of his shirt. The weather had switched from a somewhat pleasant morning to glaring heat with only a faint haze of clouds to shade them from the sun. Sweat was running down his neck and back even though he hadn't moved since he had pushed one side of the canopy open to watch the arriving Muggles. But even that got boring after some time. 

He resorted to secretly watching Malfoy out of the corner of his eye. He looked like he was slowly melting into his camping chair: his hair had lost every last bit of fluffiness as it slowly escaped his bun and began sticking to his neck and forehead. Every now and then he had to wipe his face to get rid of the sweat which made his hair stick out in more and more ridiculous angles. 

"Anything you want to know about what's going on here?" Harry sighed since he couldn't take the silence any longer. 

Looking back at the campground he watched as someone threw a tent on the ground and it popped up without any work from the owner. There was no way that Malfoy had no questions, even he was deeply impressed by that one. 

"Don't pretend you're taking this seriously, Potter. As if you'd actually be happy to answer all my questions about what’s going on here. You couldn't care less, and neither do I."

After a long, stretched silence where Harry only stared at Malfoy while his brain tried to process his words, Harry cleared his throat, surprised at his own thoughts. 

"I don't mind answering questions. That's why I'm here. I always liked answering Mr Weasley's questions; I don't see why I can't do the same for you."

"Listen, Potter. We're not friends and we won't ever be. I'm here because I have to be here. As soon as I finish Hogwarts I'll lock myself up in the Manor, or Salazar knows where, and never come out again. I'm sick of people looking at me with hate, I'm sick of the pitiful looks my friends give me, I'm sick of the past and the future, so spare me this _ everything is good _shit. You can answer only one question: where are the fucking toilets? Because I'm not going to piss against a fence like these uncultured swines."

"If it helps I do none of that. I neither hate nor pity you; the only thing I want is a bit of normality, which seemingly isn't possible with you," Harry spat, angry at Malfoy and his never-ending dramatics. "And I don't know where they are. We‘ll have to go and look for them. Shouldn't be too far." 

"I'll look for them myself."

"No you definitely won't. Mr Jacobson said I have to stay by your side and I won't let you wander around Muggles—you don't even know what to look for, or do you expect actual, real toilets here? Because if you do you'll be in for a surprise that I don't want to miss."

Without waiting for an answer, Harry got up and started to walk towards the main path, hoping he'd find a Portaloo there. 

Luckily his guess was correct and five minutes later he and Malfoy stood in line, waiting for their turn to use them. He was very right about not wanting to miss Malfoy's reaction to the blue boxes that would replace their toilet for the weekend. 

When realisation hit, Malfoy's face went even paler than usual and Harry couldn't bite back one additional comment. Leaning closer to Malfoy, he had to bite back a grin. "And you can't flush them."

"That's not funny, Potter," Malfoy hissed back. 

"It is, because it's not a joke."

Shortly after, one of the doors opened and Harry grinned over his shoulder as he strode forward to go first. 

As they walked back, Harry pulled out a bottle of hand sanitizer, something Hermione had introduced to them last year, and held it out to Malfoy who didn't even ask what it was before grabbing it and squeezing way too much of its contents on his hand before handing it back to Harry. 

"That was—" 

"They'll empty it from time to time, don’t worry. What do you think of the fences now?" 

Scrunching up his nose, Malfoy looked appalled. "That's still worse."

Chuckling, Harry sat down on his chair and pulled a soda out of their box. Taking a sip of it, he looked around and his gaze inevitably wandered back to Malfoy. Amused, Harry discovered that those few minutes in the sun had already brought a light pink tint to Malfoy's face. To his own dismay, he realised that chuckling wasn't the best idea because he was instantly hit with a scowl. 

"What? What's so funny, Potter?" 

"Your face is already pink. You should look for some sunscreen before you get red like a crab and become even more annoying. We still have to go and check out the rest of the campground and figure out where the stage is. We can probably buy dinner there later, that way we can eat the sandwiches now and don't have to cook till tomorrow."

Malfoy only huffed, so Harry gave up and watched the still-arriving Muggles again. This could be fun, if only his friends were with him. He wasn't sure how this weekend would turn out, but he decided he'd nevertheless try to make the best of it, even if he had to babysit Malfoy the whole time. God knew when he'd ever get the chance to visit a festival again. 

* * *

Smoke from the barbecues and the general smell of various foods in the air made Harry hungry. The campground was filled with people now and Harry slowly began to get impatient with Malfoy, who didn't look like he was planning to move anytime soon. 

They were expected to explore their surroundings, and if Harry had to be honest with himself, he couldn't wait to see more of it. By now it felt like the campgrounds of the Quidditch World Cup and he was very excited to discover what all was here. But instead of doing that, he was sitting under his canopy with Malfoy, who hadn't spoken a single word since Harry had discovered his pink face. 

At least he got to chat with their tent neighbours, a lesbian couple in their thirties, both wearing long dreads and the most comfy-looking clothes he had ever seen. Anne and Harmony, that's how they introduced themselves, came over to say hi after they set up their tent, and stayed for a chat and a beer before leaving to look for friends who were supposed to be somewhere on the grounds as well. 

"We should go and see what's going on here," Harry tried for the third time. 

Just as the last few times, Malfoy only scowled towards the sky and huffed. But this time Harry would have none of it. 

"We're going to check out the stage and the campground now, Malfoy. I'm getting hungry, and I saw someone with an interesting looking cocktail and I want to find out where they bought it. So we're leaving."

"I don't have money with me, the ministry froze my vaults until I finish Hogwarts. And as you were so nice to tell me, the sun isn't good for me. So I'll stay and you can—" 

"I have money, there's sunscreen, you're not allowed to stay back."

"For Salazar's fucking sake, Potter! I won't follow you around like a puppy in distress the entire weekend! And I don't care if we have a sunscreen, I won't carry a huge screen thing around just because I have sensitive skin! I'll look like a fool! It’s uncivilized, nobody else does it!"

"Carrying—a screen around?" Harry asked, dumbfounded. 

"Your stupid sunscreen, Potter! It's ludicrous!" Malfoy looked like he was going to punch him any second now while Harry still tried to process what he had heard. 

"It's not—do you really believe I'd give you a screen to carry around with you? It's a cream, Malfoy, you rub it into your skin and it _ screens _ you from the _ sun _! Wait—" rummaging through their supply box, Harry found what he was looking for and held it up for Malfoy to see before opening it and squeezing a bit of the white cream onto his fingertips. "This is sunscreen, it's like every other cream but keeps you from getting sunburnt."

"Why didn't you call it suncream then? That's obviously the Muggle replacement for sun-potion, I could have worked with that term!" 

"How should I know that you’ve never heard of sunscreen before? I can't know those things if you don't tell me!" 

"Just shut up and give me that so I can protect my skin already."

Harry thought about throwing the bottle at the git's head as hard as he could, but decided it wasn't worth the trouble. Handing it over, he got up to close the tent flap and pulled his shirt back on before starting to close their canopy, leaving just enough space for Malfoy to slip out. 

When they finally reached the food booths, Harry's stomach grumbled loudly and he felt like he could eat everything they were offering. Malfoy, on the other hand, was inspecting the booths extremely sceptically and seemed unconvinced. 

"Potter, is it safe to eat this stuff? That's not a kitchen, how can they cook without a kitchen?" 

"They have everything necessary, believe me, it's safe," Harry sighed while taking a look around. "How about fish and chips? There's nothing one can mess up with fish and chips."

"There's everything one can mess up with fish and chips, Potter! You can fry it wrong so it's either raw or too crisp, you can use cheap vinegar, or serve the chips all soft and greasy—" 

"We'll eat fish and chips and afterwards you can tell me what was wrong with them if that makes you happy." 

Malfoy looked like he had at least fifty other concerns about Harry's choice he'd like to bring up, but Harry would have none of it. Stepping in front of the booth, Harry ordered two helpings and paid up before Malfoy could complain even more. 

Shoving one portion into Malfoy's hand, Harry looked for a good place to sit down and eat. Hopefully one where he could watch people and maybe find out where the cocktails were being served. 

Finding a shadowy place, Harry sat down on the grass and fished one of the chips out. 

"I'm not sitting on the grass, Potter."

Looking up, he found Malfoy staring down at him, a mix of annoyance and disgust playing over his face. "You're wearing my clothes. I don't mind them getting dirty, so for god's sake just sit down and eat, or else your chips will get all soft and mushy and that's a discussion I really don't want to have." 

Considering Harry's words for a moment, Malfoy sat down with a huffed "fine" and inspected the wooden fork before he hesitantly started to eat. 

Waiting for possible complaints, Harry watched him for a bit before letting his gaze wander around the field. 

The stage wasn't too far from where they sat, and on the other side were booths where one could buy clothes and trinkets. He yet had to find the cocktail booth, but Harry was sure he'd locate it soon enough. Now that it was getting late, more and more Muggles were walking around with colourful cocktails in plastic cups. 

"What are you looking for, Potter? You’re making me nervous. Could you stop?" 

"I'm looking for the cocktail booth, and I'll stop as soon as I find them."

"They are next to the questionable pancakes, over there, oh mighty seeker. You should think about replacing those glasses; it might improve your looks, not to mention your poor eyesight."

"So you think I'd look better with new glasses?" Harry asked with a cheeky grin, while looking to where Malfoy had pointed. And he was right, there was a huge sign saying 'Cocktails'. 

"That's not what I said, I mean, it'd be hard to make you look even worse. I bet Longbottom's gran would be attracted by your looks at Sunday tea."

"What has Neville’s gran got to do with my glasses?" Looking up towards the sinking sun and then back at Malfoy, Harry wondered if he might have suffered a heat stroke. "You’re not making any sense. We should get some water before visiting the cocktail booth."

Huffing, Malfoy got up and brushed the dirt from his jeans before walking towards another booth that sold beer and sodas and Harry had to hurry to catch up with him. 

"So why is there no music playing, Potter?" Malfoy asked shortly after arriving at the cocktail booth. "I thought we were supposed to be listening to bands. So far the only music I’ve heard was on the campground, either through the wireless or people playing instruments."

Taken by surprise that Malfoy actually had a question that didn't sound stuck-up, Harry nearly choked on his Caipirinha.

"Today is for arriving and putting up your camp and stuff. The bands will play tomorrow and Saturday, Sunday is for leaving."

"Hm." Was the only answer he got before Malfoy took another sip of his Tequila Sunrise and fell silent again. 

"I think we should order another round and go back to our tent before it's fully dark," Harry said, squinting at the darkening sky covered with heavy clouds. 

"I don't really want to go back, it's still too hot and it's stuffy under the canopy," Malfoy complained. 

Rolling his eyes at the irony, Harry ordered them another cocktail each before dragging Malfoy back towards their camp again. 

"Can we at least take a break at the loos before going back?" Malfoy asked, annoyed, as he followed Harry towards the campground. 

"Only if you finish one of your cocktails before we get there, I can't hold four cups while waiting for you."

"That's doable."

A slurping sound behind him made Harry stop in his tracks and turn around, just to find Malfoy chugging down half his Tequila Sunrise through his straw before throwing the empty cup into a bin. "See, done."

"You know that this stuff is alcohol, right?" 

"Yes, Potter. Believe it or not, Pansy makes the best cocktails so I know what's in them."

"How drunk do you want to be then if you drink it down without a second thought?" 

"Very. Otherwise I won't survive this, or your good mood. Now let's go to the loos, I need to pee."

By the time they got close to their tent most of Malfoy's other cocktail was gone and Harry realized that Malfoy looked a bit more relaxed while facing the Muggles they met on their way. 

"Potter, look, your friends made light between their tent and ours!" 

Looking up from the path, Harry saw that Malfoy was right. Anne and Harmony had obviously used the time they hadn't been around to set up a whole bunch of fairy lights all around their tents and sat now near their canopy, listening to music with a few others. 

When they saw Harry and Malfoy arriving they started to grin and waved them over to sit with them. 

"Boys! We thought you got lost! I hope you don't mind we put up the lights? We thought it looked cosier like this."

"Not at all! They look nice."

"See! Told you they wouldn't mind, they have class, just like we do," Harmony said excitedly. 

Anne only huffed and shook her head at Harmony before looking at Harry, "I see you found the cocktails?" 

"Yes, and they are tasty. That's why we were gone for so long," Harry grinned as he opened their canopy to get his chair out. 

"Good, have some fun while you're here. And you, silent boy? Are they also to your liking?" 

"Indeed, and I'm not that silent. I just prefer to not get involved in his dramas, ta."

At that Anne and Harmony laughed out loud while making space for them to join. "Only a few cocktails in and already snarky, I like you, boy. Harry that one is a real catch, you should keep him well boozed this weekend. Sit, tell us where you got those from."

Harry had no idea how long they had stayed with their tent neighbours, he only realised that it must be way past midnight after Malfoy dozed off in his chair and Harry had to nudge him a few times to get up and into his makeshift bed underneath the canopy. Deciding that was also his cue to go to sleep, he said good night to the group of people before putting their chairs away and closing the canopy before stumbling into his tent. 

Surprised, he had to admit to himself that having Malfoy around wasn't that bad after both of them had a few drinks. He wasn't sure how many they had though, so he could only hope it wasn't enough to have to deal with a hungover Malfoy the next morning. 

* * *

The sound of rain pattering heavily onto the tent woke Harry up. Opening his eyes, he realised it was still mostly dark outside; heavy wind made the trees around him crack and rustle. Pulling his sleeping bag tighter around himself, Harry nearly dozed off again. But a low curse and the sound of a zip made him jump and look for his wand, just to realise he didn't have one. 

"Fuck. You've got to be kidding me. Fuck!" 

Finally the zip opened and something huge flew into the tent. Before Harry could react, other stuff came flying his way, and shortly after that another "Fuck" followed by the sound of the zip again. 

His sleep riddled brain needed way too long to realise that this was Malfoy, who was obviously trying to escape the storm outside. Biting his tongue to prevent the "told you so" from slipping out of his mouth, Harry turned to his side and left Malfoy to sort this out on his own. 

Harry woke again when the campground around him came back to life. Slow rain still drizzled onto the tent, and the faint sunlight escaping the clouds bathed him in a gloomy twilight. When he spotted the second airbed next to his Harry couldn't stop the taunting grin. Deciding it was time to make breakfast before Malfoy woke up and saw Harry's malicious joy, he got up and pulled on the jeans he had worn yesterday before slipping out of the tent. 

Once he had set up the camping stove and a small pan to fry bacon and eggs he got distracted by a rustle from the entrance of their canopy. 

"Boys, are you awake? We could use some shelter," came the voice of Harmony from outside. 

Hurrying to open the canopy for them, Harry let them both in and closed it again before turning around to greet them.

They were inspecting the canopy and how they had connected it to their tent to close up the gap as good as possible with approving looks. 

"London weather, eh? Nice how you did that. Can we stay here for a while? I really hope it'll stop raining later, but we brought booze and food!" 

"Sure, Ma—Draco is still asleep but he'll be fine with it as long as he gets food when he wakes up. He's always cranky in the morning."

"How long have you two been together? You sound like an old married couple already," Anne asked while setting up her camping chair. 

"Wha—? We're not together! We've attended a private school together for the last couple of years; you just know those things after eight years."

"Was it a small school then?" Harmony asked, interested. 

"Not that small, couple hundred of students I think."

"And you still know that he's cranky in the morning and what he likes for breakfast...I see scrambled eggs, and sunny side up." They both shot him a grin and Harry felt heat rushing onto his face while he tried to find an answer. 

"Just teasing, Harry. We know things can be hella complicated at times. Take your time to figure out what you two are."

"Who's making so much noise out there? I'm trying to sleep!" 

Harry rolled his eyes and looked at the two women in front of him, sending them a silent 'see, that's what I mean, not hard to miss' before turning the bacon in the pan. 

"It's a festival honey, you don't sleep here. You’re lucky that the weather sucks, or else people would be louder even sooner!" Anne called back. "Harry made breakfast for you, you should get up and eat it before I do."

"Potter we have to speak about taking in refugees before I’ve had breakfast. There needs to be a rule for that. I forbid it."

"Stop being grumpy and get up, Malfoy. Breakfast is ready and they both do look very hungry if you ask me."

"Don't you dare give them my food!"

"I'd never," Harry said with a huff as he sat down and started to eat his scrambled eggs and bacon under the watchful eyes of their neighbours. 

When Malfoy finally emerged from the tent Harry was already halfway through his plate. Looking over his shoulder, he wanted to point Malfoy towards the pan, but choked at the view in front of him. 

At some point, without Harry noticing, Malfoy had gotten his hands on Harry's favourite worn down joggers, which now dangled dangerously low on his hips while Malfoy stretched his arms and back. His hair was a messy mop on his head and slightly curly from the dampness around them instead of the well tamed look he usually wore. 

"Cat got your tongue, Potter?" Malfoy grumbled after catching Harry's stare. 

Instead of answering him, Harry shot a dark look at the two chuckling women opposite him before returning to his breakfast. He should really check out what else Malfoy had taken from his wardrobe. Those joggers were one of his absolute favourite pieces: comfortable, sprinkled with different colours that had gotten onto them while he had helped Luna paint her room this past summer, all of it perfectly rounded off with a tiny hole in one of the legs that drove Mrs Weasley crazy. He didn't pack them because he didn't want to get a nasty glare from Malfoy for wearing something like that around him, and now he had picked them out for himself.

"What's wrong with you, Potter?" 

"Those are my favourite, if you destroy them I'll kill you on the spot."

"Unlike you, I know how to take care of clothes, Potter. They are very comfortable though, so thanks for that...and for breakfast. Even if the bacon looks a bit too crisp." 

"That’s because someone took ages to get up," Harry retorted. 

"You weren't the one who had to get up in the middle of the night because your sleeping spot risked flooding."

"Told you so."

"No, you told me mosquitoes would eat me alive. There's a difference."

"You two are the most entertaining and, at the same time, exasperating people I know," Harmony suddenly laughed. 

Harry had totally forgotten they were still there and he couldn't help but laugh with them. This whole thing was so very ridiculous. 

When they finished eating, the two women threw their offering of snacks onto the table and pulled out a round of beer for each of them, which Draco looked at sceptically.

"It's not even ten."

"So? You're at a festival, drink that and the rain will be easier to bear," Anne laughed as she opened her can with a fizz. 

"Hey Anne, remember this festival ten years ago? We were about their age, maybe a wee bit older. We were drunk and high all weekend long; I think it was the best festival we ever had, one of our firsts."

"Haha yeah! Wasn't that the one where you suddenly were naked on the stage and nobody knew how you got up there?" 

"Exactly that one! Oh, to be young again and have a never-ending stack of weed."

They grinned at each other, clearly having a moment that Harry didn't want to interrupt. But Malfoy clearly wasn't as reserved. 

"Potter does. Our whole tent smells like a weed plantation."

All heads snapped towards Malfoy while he shovelled the rest of the bacon into his mouth. "Whap?" 

"You can't just _ tell _ people!" Harry hissed before realisation hit him. "And how do you even know what that smells like?" 

"Oh please, Potter. I might have been a pampered rich kid my entire life, but that doesn't mean that we have no fun. Vince and Greg were stoned for the last three years without a single break. I'm a little disappointed you didn't spill the tea last night, this whole shit show could be way more fun."

"Yeah Harry, we're also disappointed," Anne and Harmony chimed in as one, before Anne continued: "Get the stuff out and we'll roll a few!" 

"What even is this?" Harry asked, exasperated, as he got up to get Neville’s gift for him. 

"A reggae festival, boy. Honestly, use your brain!"

As soon as he returned with the bag that had been buried deep under his clothes, Anne snatched it out of his hands and held it up to marvel at the sight. "Where did you get this from? This is the best variety I've ever seen, and so much! Are you two rich or something?" 

"A friend of mine grew it," Harry said, just as Malfoy said: "Yes." and the two women started to laugh. 

"Nevermind, forget that I asked, just let me real quick—tada!" 

Harry couldn't even blink twice before the joint was lit and being passed between them. 

"Wise thinking to not tell random strangers, Harry. But honestly, how much more obvious has someone got to be before you tell them that you carry a whole bag of weed with you?" Harmony asked while leaning back into her chair. 

"He's pretty oblivious, you have to be very, very clear with him, or else he won't get it," Malfoy said with a grin. 

"Hey! I'm not _ that _ bad! I'm just always busy with other important stuff!" 

"Sure you are. Would someone hand me a soda? To be clear, I am talking to the someone who is currently sitting right next to our cooler." 

"Ha ha, very funny you git," Harry said while opening the box to grab a soda. "And yes, that was super obvious. See? Got the message."

Chuckling, Malfoy opened the can and took a sip. It wasn't long before they opened the bag of crisps Anne and Harmony had brought along and collectively decided they'd share a second joint. 

"I think the rain got lighter," Anne said about an hour later. "We should go and check in with the others, see what the plan for today is." 

"You're probably right. Can we leave our chairs here?" 

"Yeah, sure. If we're not here we're probably getting soaked at the stage or the cocktail booth," Harry said. 

"Bring sweets from wherever you go!" Malfoy chimed in before the two of them left. "Potter, do we really have to go to the stage? It's wet outside, I'll catch a cold."

"Yes, we do. And there are sweets, remember the pancakes! But you'll wear jeans, not my favourite joggers."

"Okay, I'll get dressed. But only for the pancakes. Not because you want to see the band. Where's your wallet? I'll get it for you on my way out."

"Front of my backpack, put the weed back while you're in there. I can't believe you told them."

"And I can't believe you didn’t tell us earlier, Potter! Now stop complaining or I'll never get done!"

Harry leaned back with a huff and waited for Malfoy to come back out so they could go to the stage. 

"Potter?" 

"What?" 

"Could we take a nap and go later?" 

"What?" 

"I want to take a nap. It's warm and comfy in here. We can go later."

"Malfoy! You can't take a nap now!" Harry screeched while jumping up. 

"Too late, I’m already napping. Good night."

When Harry opened the tent flap he found Malfoy on his mattress, face buried in the small pillow he had obviously brought along. Realising the git hadn't even managed to change his trousers before changing their plans, Harry huffed loudly before crawling into the tent as well. 

"Fine. A short nap, but then we're going!" 

"Uhuh, sure will. I want pancakes now that you’ve reminded me of them." 

"Git."

"Wanker."

"Shut up and sleep."

"If you insist."

Harry listened as Malfoy's breathing transitioned into light snoring, still not able to wrap his head around all of this. Yesterday at this time the git wasn't even able to speak to him, and now they were having something that came close to a normal conversation, if one counted their constant bickering as such. Not only that, but it didn't even feel hostile, which was something entirely new for him. 

He never had spent more than five minutes alone with him without everything getting out of hand and them starting a fight. Of course he still got angry at the git, but not really. If only Luna was here, she'd have an explanation. Probably something along the lines that he was tired of fighting but still looked for some kind of normality. 

His head felt too cloudy to ponder more about it, so Harry gave up and decided to sleep instead. And when he woke up, he would finally be able to go to the stage. 

When they finally made it to the stage, after smoking another joint—rolled by Malfoy this time which deeply impressed Harry—a short break at the loos, and the pancake booth, it was still raining. 

By the time the band had finished their sound check—"No, that's not the music, they're only preparing everything"—they were soaking wet. Harry decided the first thing he'd do upon getting back to their tent was look for huge trash bags so he could stay dry next time. At least the rain wasn't that cold. 

They finished their pancakes in silence and when the band started to play Harry was surprised to see Malfoy swaying with the rhythm. At one point, probably halfway through the set, they decided to go get a cocktail and a shared load of chips before they returned to the stage to listen to the rest of the act. 

"Let's go and see what the booths over there sell before we go back! We're already wet, AND we could buy another cocktail!" Harry said excitedly as the band waved goodbye and made space for the next one. 

"Potter, I already told you I have no money."

"I have more than enough, and even if I did really worry about not getting it back, you'd be the last one I'd be afraid of not repaying their debt. You probably have enough money in your piggy bank to pay for this whole trip."

"That's not exactly true."

"I don't care. Let's check out what they have."

Dragging Malfoy along, Harry started to inspect the shopping booths. He nearly collapsed onto the ground when he discovered a huge sombrero and instantly put it on Malfoy's head, who only stood and pouted at him. 

"That's what you need if the sun comes out again! Protects your sensitive skin, you know," Harry wheezed. 

"Shut up. How about—" reaching over Harry's head he plucked something from the shelf and put it on Harry's head. 

Turning around, Harry spotted himself in a mirror and burst out laughing at the pink tiara crowning his dripping wet hair. 

The seller came over to look at what the fuss was all about and before Malfoy could protest, Harry had paid for both the items and was dragging them to the next booth. By the time they had visited all the booths, Harry's mood was splendid. Not only had he successfully purchased a tiara and a sombrero, but also two fairy wands—one for each of them—and a whole bag of glitter to throw whenever they cast a 'spell'. At that, even Malfoy couldn't hold back a laugh. 

Equipped with their new things, they made another stop at the cocktail booth before returning to their tent. 

Shortly after arriving, Harmony and Anne came back with two of their friends in tow. All of them instantly laughed as they saw their new accessories. 

"See, that's what we're talking about! Had fun at the stage, I presume?" Anne asked, still laughing. 

"Yep! And we got cocktails again! They're really tasty!" Harry answered, grinning. 

"You told us that yesterday. So are you fairies now?" 

"Yep. Even bought glitter to make our spells believable."

"Hey Mony, Anne, who are your friends?" Malfoy asked while sending them one of his rare smiles. 

"Oh this is Lester and his sister, Fran, we thought we'd check in on you before going to the stage as well."

"Sure, make yourself at home, we need to change clothes; it's getting colder and I don't want to get sick. And Potter also can't get sick, I don't want to suffer through that." 

Harry was caught by surprise when Malfoy grabbed him and dragged him into the tent before ordering him to change into something dry. 

"There's no need to manhandle me, you know?" 

"I know, but you always have your head in the clouds and you _ will _get sick if you don't get yourself into something dry soon. Now turn around and don't peek, I’d hate to make Longbottom jealous."

"Why would Neville get jealous by me seeing you change into dry clothes?" Harry asked, baffled. But Malfoy didn't answer so he shrugged it off as one of his strange outbursts and started to change. 

"Want me to dry those for you?" Malfoy asked from behind him. 

Turning around, he found him pointing at the wet heap of clothes. 

"Wandless?" Harry gawked at him and he knew he looked kind of stupid but he didn't care. 

"No, with the fairy wands you bought for us. Of course wandless you muppet! It's an easy spell, and one of like, four, I can manage well enough to make it count."

"Uhm, of course. Go ahead."

"They'll still be damp, but that's better than dripping wet."

Seconds later, a fine mist rose out of Harry's clothes and then vanished as if nothing had ever happened. Still impressed, Harry thanked him before opening the zip of the tent and climbing out, just in time to get another joint pressed into his hand. 

Smiling, he sat down and thanked their guests before taking a pull and handing it over to Malfoy, who had sat down next to him. 

In the end they didn't make it back to the stage until late that night. Harry had taken over and had prepared a makeshift dinner out of canned foods for all of them while they passed a bottle of booze around and listened to stories the others shared with them. When they were asked about what they had lived to see so far, Harry had waved off the question with a simple explanation of boring private school life while Malfoy had told a Muggle-proof story about him and Pansy visiting a vineyard in France while on holiday with their parents, which ended with them getting kicked out by the owner. 

By the time they made it back to the stage, Harry was fairly tipsy, and he wasn't the only one given that Malfoy had taken the lead and was currently walking arm in arm with Anne. At least the rain wasn't that bad anymore; the heavy rainfall from earlier was now back to a light drizzle that wouldn't soak through their clothes instantly. 

Reaching the back of the audience, Malfoy tried to pull Anne with him to dance in front of the stage but she laughed and shook her head, saying she'd prefer to stay at the back because she wasn't a fan of too many people. 

An unexpected push into his back made Harry stumble towards them. 

"Here, take this one and leave my wife with me," Harmony laughed while Harry tried to catch himself before—

With a huff that left his lungs empty, Harry stumbled against Malfoy, who caught him in his arms and made them both fall into the mud. 

"That hurt," Malfoy mumbled, his back and head buried in mud. "And I'm super dirty now, aren't I?"

"Positively," Harry laughed. "You look like I just beat your arse in Quidditch."

"I'll show you who beats whom as soon as we're back," Malfoy huffed. "We can't fall any further so you can get off of me now."

Realising that he indeed was still laying on top of Malfoy, Harry rushed to get up. But his hands slipped and he flopped right back down, nearly crashing his head against Malfoy's. 

"What will Longbottom think if I tell him that you refused to get off of me? Are you always so clumsy?" Malfoy laughed, closing his eyes while Harry still struggled to get up. "Why do I even ask." 

"Neville would probably open a bottle of champagne with Luna to celebrate that I finally spoke with you. And yes I am, bad luck follows me."

At that, Malfoy's eyes flew open and he gawked at Harry. "I thought the two of you were together?" 

"Wha—no! We're not! He's my friend, we're not together! Is that the reason for your strange comments regarding Neville?" 

"Well, Potter, the only context _ I _ have is an overhead conversation between the two of you that clearly sounded like you were together! And just as a reminder, we're having this conversation while you're _ still _laying on top of me. I'd like to get up at some point and go to the stage to dance before I get sober enough to worry about how I'll get clean again."

Huffing, Harry got up. This time more careful to not slip again. Seconds later, Malfoy stood beside him and shook his head to get rid of the excess mud dripping down his neck and back. 

"This feels slightly disgusting; don't you dare laugh at me, this is your fault."

"Actually it's Harmony's fault," Harry said, turning around to see what they were up to, just to discover that they were gone. 

"Looks like you have to go dancing with me, Potter. You aren't allowed to leave my side anyways, come on."

"I—" 

"Nope, we're dancing. I won't accept any protests."

Taking Harry by his wrist, Malfoy pulled him through the crowd until they were close to the stage, where he found an empty spot and instantly started to move his body to the rhythm of the music. 

Attempting to awkwardly move to the music, Harry couldn't stop watching Malfoy. He hadn't expected a lot to come from this weekend, but to see him like this wasn't something he thought would even be possible. 

A smile broke over Malfoy's face when the rhythm changed and he adjusted his movements to match, giving Harry a good look at his backside that was completely covered in mud. 

"Like what you see, Potter?" Malfoy laughed as he caught him staring. 

"Just surprised that you're actually human, that's all," Harry grinned back. 

"Psh, what else would I be? I bet you're not always stupid; I don't need a festival to know that."

Harry didn't know what to say so he concentrated on his awkward half-shuffle-strange-arm-movement type dance until Malfoy had enough of dancing and decided they could do something less embarrassing. 

When the band ended their act Harry clapped enthusiastically before turning back to Malfoy; this time catching _ him _ staring. 

"Want to go back and see how we get you clean? Or would you rather wait till the rain does the job?" Harry asked with a grin. 

"I'd very much prefer to go back."

"Thought so, let's go."

They walked back in silence and, for once, it didn't feel awkward and uncomfortable. At least until Harry heard a giggle next to him. 

"Don't you think these puddles would be great for puddle jumping, Potter?" 

"I’ve never done that. Though I think they could be," Harry said, inspecting the next puddle. 

"You—never? Potter? What in Salazar's name is wrong with you?" 

"My aunt didn't like me getting dirty. So I just never did," Harry said with a shrug. 

"I'd like to force you to jump into a puddle right here and now, but I'm cold. And I’m pretty sure you'd break your leg if you tried now. But we're doing it tomorrow. Remind me in the morning."

"I'll try."

Reaching their tent, Harry went straight to the box and pulled one of the large water bottles out. 

"Do you think they packed us shampoo?" Malfoy asked from behind him. 

"I think I saw a small bottle somewhere in here, but it's dark and I can't find it." 

"Let me check."

Five minutes, and probably ten smashed objects later, Malfoy got up with a triumphant "Aha!" while holding a small bottle in the air. "This looks like shampoo, and if it's not—well, we can't make it much worse."

"Probably not. Take your shirt off, or else you'll get muddy again afterwards. Then kneel down next to the tent and lean forwards so I can pour the water over you."

Malfoy did as he was told and Harry started to pour water over his hair, watching as he tried to comb through it without toppling over, which actually looked pretty hard given the fact that Harry could barely stand still without swaying himself. 

When most of the mud was finally gone, Harry went back to the box to get a second bottle of water while Malfoy shampooed his hair. Opening the second bottle, he started to pour that one over Malfoy as well. Barely suppressing a giggle, Harry thought that if someone had told him only a week ago that he'd be pouring water over Malfoy to help him wash his hair Harry would have sent them straight to Madam Pomfrey. Funny how smoothly things were going as soon as they were left unsupervised and with clear orders to have fun. 

"Potter I need you to check if there's shampoo left."

Harry snapped back to reality and looked down, seeing—not much. If he had to be honest, he could only see Malfoy's profile and nothing else. 

"How am I supposed to do that? I can't see anything out here."

"Use your stupid hands you troll. Honestly, Potter. Just reach down and rinse it one more time, it can't be that hard."

"You want me—to wash your hair?" Harry asked, dumbfounded. 

"Just do it already, will you?" 

This was not okay. Harry had no idea what exactly it was, but it definitely wasn't okay. They couldn't go from not speaking, to barely speaking, to washing each others hair within a day and a half. 

"I'm waiting, Potter."

Leaning down, Harry carefully brushed his fingers through Malfoy's hair while pouring small amounts of water over it. This was by far the strangest experience he’d had so far, especially since Malfoy's hair felt so soft. He didn't even dare to do this with more pressure, afraid that he'd—he didn't even know, maybe break them, or pull them out. Definitely destroy them in some way. 

But Malfoy would have none of it. "You're not petting a baby bird, you're washing my hair. Could you please do this correctly? I don't want to have greasy hair tomorrow."

Furrowing his brows, Harry tried his best to make sure Malfoy's hair would be shampoo free, while still not hurting him. By the time the bottle was nearly empty he was pretty sure Malfoy's hair was clean. 

"I think that's it. There's still water left, do you want me to get rid of the mud on your neck as well?" 

"Obviously you dork, otherwise this whole thing would be pretty useless, wouldn't it?" Malfoy huffed. 

Harry only rolled his eyes before taking care of his neck, carefully rubbing the dirt away. 

"I think that's it," Harry said, tracing his fingers from one side to the other, feeling Malfoy shudder under his touch. "We should get out of these wet clothes and into something warm."

"Yeah, good idea."

Putting the empty bottles away, Harry stripped out of his dirty clothes and threw them onto the ground before slipping into the tent. Pulling on a clean shirt, he rushed back out to hastily brush his teeth so he could finally slip into his warm sleeping bag. Being wet most of the day eventually stopped being fun. 

Once he found a comfortable position to sleep in, Harry went back over the day in his mind. He honestly had a lot of fun but wasn't entirely sure if this was how festivals were supposed to be. But it surely came close to the fun he would have with Ron by his side. He would never have guessed that this would be possible with Malfoy, but the git had always surprised him one way or another, so why should it be different here. 

The loud chattering of teeth made Harry snap out of his thoughts and he turned towards Malfoy. 

"Are you that cold?" Harry asked, barely suppressing a yawn. 

"No, chattering teeth is a h–hobby of mine."

"Haha. Pull on a sweater?" 

"I'm wearing two, thanks for the brilliant con–contribution."

"No need to get snarky again. I was just trying to help."

"Sleep, P–Potter."

Harry rolled his eyes and turned back. But with Malfoy shaking like a leaf next to him, sleep refused to come for him. 

Ten minutes later he gave up. Jumping up, he shoved his mattress against Malfoy's. 

"W–what the f–fuck?" 

"Open your sleeping bag and throw it over so I have something to lie on that isn't plastic, we’ll use mine as a blanket."

"W–why would I—" 

"Because you'll get sick and you’re keeping me awake. And because I'm a human heater and you're freezing to death. Just do it already; I washed your hair today, and already laid five minutes on top of you before that. It can't get much more awkward."

There were a few seconds of silence, minus the occasional chatter of teeth, and then the sound of a zip being opened and something hitting his air mattress. 

Opening his own sleeping bag now, Harry threw it over Malfoy before climbing back onto his mattress and slipping carefully under their improvised blanket. 

To his surprise he didn't have to shuffle around awkwardly, because as soon as his head hit the mattress, Malfoy wrapped himself around Harry like a koala. Cold feet and hands found Harry's exposed skin and he screeched at the temperature shock. 

"You're ice cold, fuck!"

Malfoy only hummed before wrapping himself even tighter around Harry, positively pulling all the warmth from his body like some kind of temperature vampire. 

Soon after that, Malfoy stopped shivering. Little puffs of air against Harry’s neck, that slowly transformed into the light snores he somehow had gotten used to already, told Harry that Malfoy was asleep, surprisingly without any complaints. 

Harry knew that this wasn't thought through, that he'd probably wake up to a slap for even making this suggestion, but he didn't care. Probably because it didn't feel that weird, or off-putting, or even crazy, to sleep with Malfoy cuddled up against him. In his current state, which definitely wasn't the best state to be making decisions in, it even felt nice and right to do; though he wasn't sure what sober Harry would say about that in the morning. But for now, the only logical thing to do was to bury his hand in Malfoy's cloud-like, fluffy, soft hair and sleep. 

* * *

Harry didn't wake to a slap to the face. Instead, he woke to a scream, the smell of something burning and, positively, a few people laughing. 

Jumping up, he turned to wake Malfoy in order to get them both out of the tent but he wasn't there anymore. The thought of Malfoy burning the tent down with him inside shot through his head, but he figured that'd be a bit crass, even for him. Malfoy might be dramatic in person but that'd be an overreaction even for him. 

"You ever cooked before?" Harry heard a voice from outside the tent. 

"No! And you're not helping here! Either do something or shut up!" That was definitely Malfoy and he sounded positively distressed. 

Finally finding the zip, Harry opened the tent and stuck his head out, instantly being greeted by a cloud of smoke. "What the—? What's happening here?" 

"Our lovely Draco discovered the magic of cooking is what's happening here," someone laughed, and seconds later Harry spotted Harmony through the smoke. 

"Potter! Help me! They are being mean to me! This is what I get for being nice and making breakfast for once!" 

"You're making breakfast?" Harry coughed, fishing his last pair of clean trousers out of the backpack before crawling out of the tent to see it with his own eyes. 

"Well I tried! I watched you doing it so I thought it couldn't be that hard!"

"Spoiler alert, he thought wrong," was Harmony's giggled response before Harry could take a look at the pan on their small stove. 

Malfoy had somehow managed to drop half of the eggshells into the pan where they were currently melting together with a mass of crisp brown eggs—at least he thought that was what this was supposed to be. Next to the pan was black toast that had definitely caught fire at one point. All the while, Malfoy was trying to pluck the shells out of the pan before burning his fingers and giving up completely. Sticking them into his mouth, he scowled at Harry as if all of this was somehow his fault. 

"Why did you try to make breakfast if you’ve never done it before?" 

"Because you made breakfast yesterday and I was sure I could do it! And now my fingers hurt and the stupid eggs will catch fire soon if nobody takes care of them."

Walking over, Harry turned off the stove before holding his hand out for Malfoy to show him his fingers. After thoroughly inspecting them, he drenched a cloth in cold water from their box and pressed it against Malfoy's red fingertips. "You'll survive. At least you will if you stop cooking until someone shows you how to do it right."

Turning around to Anne and Harmony, who were watching the spectacle in fascination, Harry furrowed his brows and tried for his best Mrs Weasley impersonation. "And you two! If you saw him struggling, why didn't you help him?" 

"Because this was fun to watch," Anne said. "We would have stepped in before he burnt everything down or got really hurt, don't worry."

"He _ is _ hurt, and the toast looks like it was on fire."

"He burnt his fingertips, he won't die from that. And the toast was burning when we got here, or at least shortly after. All in all this was pretty funny."

Rolling his eyes, Harry went back into the tent to get his wallet. There was no chance he was going to clean this mess, either Malfoy would do it or it'd have to wait till they were back and he could use his wand. 

"I'll get pancakes for us. Any other requests?" Harry asked while climbing out of the tent. 

"Something that stops my fingers from burning," Malfoy pouted. 

"I'm not going to visit the paramedics for that tiny burn, it'll be good in an hour."

"But it hurts!" 

"You’ve had worse, you'll survive."

"Fine. See if they have tea then. I don't care which kind, just drop—" 

"—two spoons of sugar and no milk, yes, I know. See you soon."

The paths between the tents were nothing but mud by now and every step Harry took was followed by a squelching sound from where he had to pry his foot free from the swamp threatening to swallow his shoes. At least it had stopped raining for now, even if the dark clouds over his head promised more any second. 

Reaching the food booths, he smiled to himself while waiting for his order. Malfoy trying to make breakfast and failing spectacularly was a memory he wanted to keep for life. If he really thought about it, this whole weekend probably was. Harry couldn't believe that he was having an actual good time with Malfoy, even going as far as to cuddle up with him at night to keep him from freezing. He still had no idea why he'd done that and was even more surprised at how easily Malfoy took all of it. 

It was obvious that neither of them wanted to go at the beginning. So what had changed? 

He was still pondering over that question as he made his way back to the tent, which had multiplied in difficulty thanks to carrying multiple loads of pancakes in one hand and super hot tea in the other. 

When he arrived at his camp, Malfoy was still pouting, fingers wrapped into the wet cloth. But there was no sign of Anne and Harmony. 

"Where did the others go?" Harry asked as he balanced his load onto the table. 

"Went to visit their friends, probably still making fun of me."

"Hey, you tried. That's something I wouldn't have expected. Yeah, it went wrong, but at least you attempted to, you know, see if you could do it. That's cool."

"I burnt my fingers, and the food. I don't know what exactly you count as cool, but I surely wouldn't count this. It's pathetic at best."

"Stop being so harsh on yourself. You’ve done great this weekend, way better than I'd have thought."

"Well," Malfoy sniffed as he loaded half of the pancakes onto another plate, "You don't exactly have a high opinion of me to begin with, so we shouldn't set that as standard."

Harry stayed silent at that. He wasn't sure what his opinion on Malfoy was anymore. If someone had asked him on Wednesday his answer would have been easy: 'He's a git, I hate him and I want nothing to do with him'. But now he couldn't say that anymore. He didn't hate Malfoy; even enjoyed his company. He liked his humour, and how easy it was to be around him even if he was still a whiny git who didn't know how to cook without burning the place down. 

They finished eating in silence, listening as the first drops of rain fell onto their canopy. 

"Can we not go to the stage till tonight? I'm still feeling cold and tired. And my fingers hurt."

Harry looked up from his plate to find Malfoy looking through the small slit that marked the entrance of their canopy.

"We can stay here for a while. Though someone will have to go and get lunch later, you ruined our stove beyond cleaning without magic."

"I can buy food later, that shouldn't be so hard."

"Wouldn't say that if I were you," Harry said with a grin. "The paths are a swamp, I'm glad I still have both my shoes."

"I'll go without then," Malfoy grinned. 

"Wake me up before you go, I want to see that!" Harry laughed. "As for now, I'll go back to sleep. Waking up to a scream and the smell of fire isn't really a good start to being well-rested."

"I'll try and clean this place a bit, but I won't touch that stove ever again! Pretty sure it tried to kill me."

"That must be it. Not that you have no idea how those things work, it's the stove. Definitely sentient and out to kill you. Makes sense now that you say it."

"Shut up and go to sleep, Potter." 

Grinning at Malfoy, Harry got up and crawled into the tent where he laid down and closed his eyes, listening to the rain pattering down onto their tent. 

He had always loved that sound; not even last year could take away the peace it brought him. Letting out a deep, contented sigh, Harry waited for sleep to take him. 

A nudge to his side made Harry blink awake. 

"Potter!" 

"'s it already time?" Harry mumbled sleepily. 

"No," came Malfoy's hushed answer. "I finished cleaning and want to take a nap as well. But you're blocking both mattresses. Scoot over, will you?" 

Doing as told, Harry scooted over to make some space for Malfoy to lay down. As soon as he did, Harry threw his arm over his middle and pulled him into a hug without a second thought.

"I'm not cold." 

"Bu' you're comfy."

"You know we shouldn't do this."

"Says who? Sleep."

Harry heard Malfoy exhale deeply before a careful hand found his hair. Humming, he lifted his head so Malfoy could place his arm more comfortably under his neck before Harry snuggled closer and started to draw small circles onto Malfoy’s side with his thumb. 

"You'll be the death of me…" Malfoy whispered while combing his fingers through Harry's locks. 

"Hmhh…" 

This time Harry didn't wake alone. He had no idea how long they'd slept, or if Malfoy slept at all, because he was still playing with Harry's hair like he had been doing when Harry dozed off. The rain hadn't gotten lighter yet and if it was up to him he'd stay exactly here until they had to leave tomorrow, but his grumbling stomach told him that wouldn’t be an option. 

"Good morning, or should I say noon?" Malfoy said, sounding sleepy. 

"Mmmh, don't know. Did you sleep?" 

"A bit."

"Good." 

Harry didn't want to open his eyes; he wanted to stay like this just a bit longer. If he opened his eyes he would have to face the reality that he was currently snuggled up against Malfoy, of all people, and probably had to think about why it felt so nice. And he wasn't ready for that yet. Instead, he moved his hand up and down Malfoy's side, enjoying the feeling of warmth and wrinkled-up fabric beneath his touch. 

"Why?" 

Harry knew exactly what Malfoy was trying to ask, but he had no idea how to answer him. "I don't know. Do we need a reason?" 

Malfoy turned from his back to his side so he was now facing him, but Harry still refused to open his eyes. 

"Everything needs a reason...look at me, Potter, and tell me you won't hate yourself for this as soon as we get back."

Harry opened his eyes and found himself only inches from Malfoy's face. He looked sad, lost in his thoughts, and it was obvious that he hadn't closed his eyes since he had joined Harry here. Harry couldn't resist reaching up to trace the dark lines under Malfoy's eyes.

"You told me you slept." 

"That's not an answer," Malfoy said, closing his eyes for a second before looking back at Harry. "Tell me you won't hate yourself for this when we get back."

"I won't," Harry breathed, cupping Malfoy's cheek. "And I won't hate you, or this trip. If I could, I think right now I'd stay here forever."

"But you will. There are plenty of reasons for you to. I'm not like you or your friends—people hate me for what I stand for, not for myself. And as soon as we're back you'll stop being drunk and high all the time and things will change."

"I'm neither drunk nor high right now. I like being with you, here, like this."

"But here everything is different. We're not at Hogwarts, here you have nobody else you know. That will change as soon as we're back."

"Yeah it will. But it won't change this," Harry said, carefully stroking Malfoy's cheek. 

"This isn't real, this festival is—" 

The rest of Malfoy's sentence was lost as Harry leaned in and pressed his lips against his, ignoring the small sound of surprise that followed before Malfoy tentatively kissed him back. 

Pulling back a bit, Harry leaned his forehead against Malfoy's, letting his fingers wander from his cheek to his chin and back again, exploring the light stubble spreading over his skin. "Let's face reality when we leave here. We'll find a way."

Malfoy nodded, trailing his hands down Harry's neck. "Okay, let's think about it when we're back."

Smiling, Harry leaned in and gave him another kiss. He didn't know what would happen when they got back, but when Malfoy's lips parted slightly under his, he really didn't care. Things would be alright somehow, they'd figure it out. 

"We should get up and get lunch, I promised you puddle jumping today so if you come with me to get food we can do that straight away," Malfoy said after Harry's stomach growled so loudly that they had to let go of each other because they weren't able to contain their laughter. 

"You just don't want to go alone, coward."

"You're supposed to not ever leave my side, Potter. And you already did once this morning. What do you think Jacobson will say when I tell him that you left me alone with Muggles, not only once, but twice!" Malfoy said in mock outrage before laughing again. 

"You're the worst."

"Don't pretend you didn't know that before."

"Oh I did. So puddle jumping? I'll change into one of my already dirty trousers then."

"Good idea. And no shoes. It's more fun without."

"You're the specialist, I'll trust your opinion on that. But don't make it a recurring thing, I don’t think I could handle that."

At that, Malfoy laughed and shoved Harry of the mattress before getting up himself. "I can't promise that, you know I'm pretty much superior in everything else as well."

"We'll see when you stand up to your promise of playing Quidditch against me," Harry laughed before looking for something to wear. 

Fifteen minutes later they were on their way to the stage once again, but this time Harry didn't try to step around puddles. Instead, he jumped in every single one of them, holding tightly onto Malfoy's hand, while both of them laughed their bums off. 

He knew some of the Muggles were staring at them as if they were insane while others shook their head with a smile, but he also had caught at least three others joining them in their fun. By the time they reached the food booths both of them were dripping wet and muddy beyond rescue. This time around they decided to get pizza and Malfoy made short work of it by sitting down next to the booth where the rain couldn't reach them as much so they could eat without their food getting soaked in water. 

After swallowing their last bite, Malfoy dragged him towards the stage where a band was about to set up their instruments.

"We're already wet and dirty, we might as well stay and listen to them before going back. I bet the others are already waiting to see the next catastrophe unfold," Malfoy huffed. 

"Don't be so resentful, it really was kinda funny to watch," Harry laughed. 

"Oh you think it's funny that I burned my fingers?" Malfoy asked, and without a warning he tackled Harry to the ground. "Let's see how funny it is when I'm done with you."

Harry was too surprised to react, he was still recovering from the unexpected fall when Malfoy pinned him down and started to tickle him everywhere he could reach. 

Bursting out laughing, Harry tickled him back while simultaneously trying to wriggle away from Malfoy's vile attack on him. It didn't take long before both of them were out of breath and calling for a truce. 

Rolling off him, Malfoy flopped down into the mud so they were laying next to each other, both gasping for air while trying to fight down the occasional laugh while raindrops hit their face. 

They still hadn't moved when the band started to play. It was a moment of calm that neither of them wanted to break. 

"Thanks for this break from reality, Potter. I thought this weekend would be horrible, but—it wasn't, yeah. So thank you," Malfoy said quietly after a while. 

"I thought the same," reaching for Malfoy's hand next to him, Harry gave it a little squeeze. "But it has been brilliant. Even if the weather sucks."

"I like the rain. The sun would have burnt me, and mixed with the amount of alcohol I’ve had it would have been my death."

"Yeah, and you wouldn't have been so cold that I needed to warm you," Harry laughed, pulling Malfoy's hand up to press a kiss on his knuckles. 

They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity. Harry couldn't tell if it was still the same band playing, still the same Festival, still the same year...all he knew was that the rain kept falling onto them while they lay in the mud holding each others hand without ever wanting to let go again. 

Eventually they had to get up, had to get clean and into dry clothes, if only to prevent them from getting sick. After helping Malfoy stand, Harry slowly led them back to their tent. He couldn't believe they had to go back tomorrow. He knew that despite his best intentions things would change as soon as they reached the gates of Hogwarts, and that thought distressed him because he didn't want that to happen. 

Pulling Malfoy into their—thankfully empty—canopy, he stepped closer and pulled him in for a kiss. He tried to sort out his emotions but failed as he felt a tentative hand brush over his side. 

"Let's stay here tonight," Harry whispered as they broke apart and Malfoy nodded at him. 

"I feel like the rain took care of the mud in my hair," Malfoy sighed. "Could you still check it? I can't wait for a real shower tomorrow."

"Don't say that or I'll Apparate straight back to Hogwarts. I really miss hot water and the feeling of clean skin," Harry laughed as he finally let go of Malfoy. "Turn around so I can see your hair and check if we need to wash it again."

Ruffling his hands through Malfoy's hair, Harry laughed at the scandalised "Ey!" from him. "You're all good. Won't get any cleaner today. And I'll just chuck a bottle of water over mine and hope for the best till I get home tomorrow."

When Harry returned from his makeshift shower, Malfoy was already changed, his hair pulled back into a lazy bun again while he held up the bag with Neville’s weed. "Want some?" 

"Why even ask," Harry laughed before shedding his dirty clothes and crawling into the tent to find something that was at least a bit dry. 

Harry heard their canopy open and a few giggles before: "Hey Draco! Where's Harry?" 

"Getting dressed, we got a wee bit wet at the stage."

"Same. I think we never had such a rainy festival before, a shame. I can't wait till we get home and into something dry."

Crawling out of the tent, Harry waved at them before sitting down in his chair and inspecting their supply box for leftover beer cans. Fishing four out, he gave one to each of them before opening his own. "Stop talking about going home or else I'll pack up and leave tonight, I really miss being warm and dry and _ clean _."

"Well, it's not that cold, so it really could be worse," Harmony laughed. 

They spent their afternoon underneath the canopy where they were safe from the never ending rain. The bag of Neville’s weed got significantly lighter and at one point Harry decided to fuck it all and fished McGonagall's bottomless box of biscuits out for them to share, figuring that everyone was too high to notice anyways and that Anne and Harmony would blame it on their current state even if they did notice that the biscuits never ran out no matter how many of them they ate. Which was, of course, exactly what happened. 

By the end of the day, it was not only the four of them but also the friends from their first night who had come over to sit with them. They had asked for shelter by bringing their camping chairs and a load of freshly cooked noodles with tuna and tomato sauce for everyone to share, and neither Harry nor Malfoy would say no to free food even though it meant they had to start packing some of their stuff together so everyone had enough space. 

"So do you guys think you'll come back next year?" Harmony asked them as it got dark outside. 

"I wouldn't say no, I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. How about you, Malfoy?" 

"I don't know, depends on where I'll be next year I think. But yeah, maybe. I like it here."

"I'll give you my email, send us a note if you do, or if you visit any festivals around London because we might be there as well," Harmony said, smiling as she handed Harry a small card. 

Shoving it into his pocket, Harry promised her to let them know. 

"Good, because we're about to head to the stage and you two don't look like you'd make it all the way there and back. And tomorrow morning will be stressful, I'd totally forget to give you my card. Next year is on us if you come back, we smoked enough of your weed that paying for your tickets probably still isn't enough to repay you," she laughed. 

Harry tried to dismiss that but neither Anne nor Harmony wanted to hear a word about it, insisting to pay for them if they decided to come back, so Harry gave up and waved goodbye as they and their friends packed up their chairs and left the canopy. 

"Did they tell us when our portkey would leave?" Malfoy asked. 

"I—don't think they did, no. But they'd surely leave us enough time to pack up and get ready, don't you think?" 

"I think we should start to gather our stuff tonight so we don't have to do everything in a hurry tomorrow morning, even if I really don't want to move right now."

"Me neither, but you're probably right, we should do that."

"Give me another biscuit, maybe that'll motivate me."

Harry huffed while trying to locate the biscuits. Spotting them at the other end of the table, he knew he had no other choice but to stand up to get them. Deciding not to sit down again, he started to clean by throwing everything into a huge bag. When he turned back around, Malfoy was trying to shove their camping cooker back into its box with a sour expression on his face that made Harry laugh. 

"You know it's not the cooker’s fault that you burnt breakfast, right?" 

"I'm still sure it tried to kill me and you can't prove otherwise. Fold the table once it's empty, we won't need it tomorrow. And do we have another bag to put the dirty clothes in? They'll drench everything else if we put them in our backpacks like this."

When most of the work was done, Harry snuck up to Malfoy and hugged him from behind, "We should sleep, I'm tired."

"Yeah, not a bad idea," Malfoy said, leaning back into Harry's embrace. "We can do the rest tomorrow."

Following Malfoy into the tent, Harry slipped out of his shoes and trousers before he crawled onto his mattress, where Malfoy instantly pressed his cold feet against Harry's legs once again. 

Pulling him into his arms, Harry grinned as he pressed a soft kiss onto Malfoy's hair, "I wonder how you survived the Scottish winters when you're already freezing like this in October."

"Heating Charms, Potter. They come in quite handy when you're cold."

"Mhm, makes sense. What a shame you can't use them here, you just have to suffer with my presence."

"What a shame indeed," Malfoy mumbled before trailing a soft path of kisses from Harry's neck to his chin. 

Smiling, Harry caught Malfoy's lips in a kiss. 

"You know we can't keep this going when we get back, don't you?" Malfoy asked quietly in between kisses. 

"I'm sure we'll find a way if we want to."

"And if we don't?" 

"Then we should make the best of the time we still have here," Harry mumbled, letting his hand slide lower to where Malfoy's shirt had shifted upwards, exposing soft skin. 

Trailing his fingers over his lower back, Harry waited for Malfoy to say something, but he didn't answer. Instead, he leaned in and gave Harry another kiss, nibbling on his lower lip until he opened up for him. A gasp escaped Harry as Malfoy rolled them over until he was on top of Harry. 

"Get your shirt off, Potter."

Harry grabbed the hem of his shirt with shaky hands and pulled it over his head before laying back down. Seconds later, Malfoy laid back down on top of him and, with a shiver, Harry realised that he had also pulled off his shirt. Crashing their mouths back together, Harry let his hands wander up and down Malfoy's bare back, savouring every shudder, every twitch of muscle underneath his fingers. 

When Malfoy trailed another path of kisses from Harry's jaw all the way down to his collarbone, Harry gasped for air. Burying one of his hands in Malfoy's hair, he tried to carefully pull him back up to his mouth but got rewarded with a bite on his neck that made him desperate for more. 

Grinding up against Malfoy, Harry felt him shudder while he continued to trail kisses up and down Harry's neck. 

"So impatient," Malfoy breathed before he finally gave in and kissed Harry. 

Rolling his hips up again, Harry was rewarded with a quiet moan that made his head swim. Letting his hand wander lower, Harry grazed the hem of Malfoy's joggers. 

Not sure if he was allowed to touch him anywhere lower, Harry let his shaking fingers wander around the hem of the low sitting joggers, tracing the line back and forth while waiting for a reaction. 

Malfoy hummed under his touch and angled his body so Harry's hand slipped underneath his joggers, where it met bare skin—and nothing else. 

Harry's mind went blank as he travelled lower. Giving Malfoy's butt an experimental squeeze, Malfoy thrust down on him with a groan that vibrated through Harry's entire body. 

Breaking their kiss, Malfoy looked down at him, studying his face as he thrust down again. Biting his lip, Harry locked eyes with him, sending a silent plea for more and hoping he would be understood. 

Seconds later, the friction was gone and Harry nearly cried out before he felt Malfoy's hand slide lower, sneaking its way into Harry's boxers. Bucking up, Harry nearly pushed Malfoy down, but caught himself just in time to fully lose his mind as Malfoy wrapped his fingers around Harry's already sensitive cock and started to stroke it. 

Knowing he wouldn't last long, Harry rushed to push down Malfoy's joggers just enough to free his cock. Letting his fingers drift down Malfoy's shaft, he savoured the shudder that shot through both of them before taking him in his hand. 

Harry watched Malfoy's face transform, the hunger in his eyes changing to an expression of pure bliss while he let out the tiniest of moans and gasps. Feeling the urge to kiss him, Harry used his free hand to pull Malfoy's head down, kissing him hard and needy while both of them fought for air while dragging their climax out as far as they could. 

It still ended way too soon for Harry's liking: a shudder, a gasp, and he went limp underneath Malfoy while he came all over himself, with Malfoy following only seconds later.

Rolling off him, Malfoy looked over and breathed out a laugh before propping himself up on his elbow. "Would you call that 'making the best of it'?" He asked while reaching out and running a finger through the mess on Harry's belly. 

"It comes pretty close, yes," Harry laughed.

"Mmh pretty close yeah? Well, it has to be good enough. You should clean this mess before it dries." Leaning in, Malfoy gave him a kiss before flopping over on his back and pulling his joggers back up. 

"You could at least give me something to clean this up with before falling asleep," Harry grumbled, which earned him a dark chuckle and a smack on his arm. 

"Find something yourself, my work here is done. I earned this rest."

Laughing, Harry shook his head and grabbed the first item that he could reach. After wiping away the mess he rolled over and draped himself halfway across Malfoy before pulling the sleeping bag up to cover them both. Letting out a deep sigh, he finally closed his eyes. 

* * *

Harry woke up to Malfoy poking his side. All around them he could hear the rustling of busy people who were chatting while they packed their tents together. Groaning, he swatted the annoying hand away and turned onto his belly, not interested in the slightest to get up already. 

"Potter, get up you lazy fuck! You cleaned your mess with my last pair of clean boxers, now I have to return to Hogwarts with no pants!" 

Those words took a solid minute to reach his brain before he laughed into his mattress, "Did I really?" 

"Yes! Now get up and help me gather our stuff together! Our Portkey will probably leave soon and I'm hungry."

Sitting up, Harry blinked up at Malfoy who was scowling at him. 

"You look cute when you're angry," Harry grinned. 

"I look cute, period. Now get your lazy arse up and help me."

Huffing, Harry looked for something at least slightly dry and clean to wear before stuffing everything else into his backpack while Malfoy tried his best to roll up their sleeping bags and stuff them back into their bags. 

Packing the rest of their things took them nearly as long as it did to set them up. When they finally managed to stuff everything back to where it belonged and knotted up their bin bag, Harry's stomach was rumbling in protest of working so hard before breakfast. 

Anne and Harmony slipped out of their tent just as the boys were preparing to gather their stuff and leave to wait in the small forest for their Portkey. Happy about their timing, the women rushed over and gave them a final hug goodbye, reminding Harry to send them an email before sending them on their way, and promising again that they'd pay for their tickets next year if they came back. 

On their way to the exit, Harry nearly slipped in mud and would have fallen if Malfoy hadn't caught him with a grin. "Don't you dare, I want to get out of here without one of us covered in mud from head to toe. I have no idea how I would explain that back at Hogwarts."

"People wouldn't expect anything else from me to be honest. It'd be worse if you came back dirty like that. McGonagall would send me straight to detention for it."

"On the other hand, you in detention sounds fun, maybe I'll just—" 

"Nope. Not gonna happen. Let's get out of here, I can't wait to take a hot shower and get something to eat."

Laughing, Malfoy walked out of the open gates and turned to follow the path back to the small forest, keeping way more space between him and the fence than absolutely necessary. 

When they reached the small clearing they had landed in Harry pulled the seatbelt out and handed one end to Malfoy. 

"And now we wait; let's hope nobody finds us like this," Harry said, taking a look around. 

"Yeah I have no idea how we would explain that to anyone," Malfoy sighed. 

"Do you think they'll question us straight away? I'd honestly prefer it if they left us alone until class starts tomorrow."

"I don't know. Though I'm pretty sure they’ll have to fight Pansy if they want to speak to me today. She'll probably be waiting at the gates to drag me away to hear everything about this weekend."

"What will you tell her?" 

"About us you mean?" Malfoy said, looking at him tentatively. "Nothing, I don't want to—" 

A force pulled them away before Malfoy could finish his sentence. Harry's stomach dropped and he knew it wasn't due to the sudden change in location. 

Landing at the gates of Hogwarts, they were greeted not only by McGonagall and Mr Jacobson but also by their friends, just like Malfoy had predicted. 

Before Harry even knew what was happening, they had their wands back and everything except their backpacks was taken from them before he was dragged back to Hogwarts by Ron and Hermione, both going on and on asking questions and giving updates on what he had missed in class. 

Turning around, he found Malfoy in a similar position, head hanging low as Parkinson and Goyle chatted at him without a break. 

"You need a shower, Harry. You look horrible."

Turning his head back to his friends he sent Hermione a smile, "I really do, don't I? It rained all weekend long, you can't imagine how muddy it was. And I think I haven’t really been dry since Thursday."

"Okay, new plan. Ron, you get him to the prefects bathroom so Harry can take a bath and I'll go to Madam Pomfrey to get a Pepper-Up Potion for him and will meet you there in twenty minutes." With that she rushed away, leaving it to Ron to drag him towards the bathroom. 

"I know she's a bit too much at times, mate. But she was really worried about you while you were gone," Ron said quietly as he walked on. "I don’t think we’ve spent so much time apart since...yeah, since I came back to you last year."

"Don't tell me you didn't spend the time with a room all by yourself well," Harry grinned. "I'd be very worried if you didn't."

"Oh believe me, we did. At least we had some fun while you were stuck with that git for the weekend. Tell me, how bad was it? Did you punch him? Was he unhappy the whole time? He didn't look exactly happy when the two of you came back."

"Actually—" Harry started, but then Malfoy's words rushed back into his mind and he stopped, feeling his stomach clench. "Yeah, you know. It was as much fun as one could expect."

"Hmm knew it. Sorry mate, but at least you're done now. Hey, maybe you can come with us to the cinema! I bet Mr Jacobson would be okay with that, and a second wizard who grew up with Muggles only adds to the experience! We could make fun of McLaggen together!"

"Maybe, but let me recover first. I think Hermione wasn't wrong about the potion, I feel dead to the core."

"Sure thing, mate! Take a bath and get a night of sleep and you'll feel much better!" 

They reached the prefects bathroom and Ron opened the door for him before following him in and turning on taps at random while Harry undressed himself. It wasn't the first time he got to thinking that sharing a tent for a year, even though bigger and more comfortable than a Muggle one, had cost him every sense of decency around his friends. 

"Hey Ron, could you maybe run and fetch me something clean to wear? And your joggers? Malfoy has mine, and the other ones I have aren't as comfy and I'm all about being comfortable today."

"Why does the git have your holy pair of joggers?" Ron asked, appalled. 

"Long story short: he had nothing to wear so Jacobson asked me if I could lend him some of my clothes; I didn't notice him picking those out."

"Huh, good for him that he survived this weekend then. You'd have killed me if I wore them."

"That's more or less what I told him."

"I'd be worried if you hadn't," Ron laughed as he made his way out of the bathroom, leaving Harry to get into the bath that was by now halfway filled with steaming hot water.

Harry sighed deeply as he sat down, feeling the hot water swirl around him, washing the dirt away and warming him to his core. Dabbling around, he turned even more taps on and watched colourful bubbles rise into the air where each one burst with a small ping that sounded like a tiny bell. 

By the time Hermione arrived, Harry had turned off the taps and was floating in the middle of the tub, still trying to wrap his head around everything. 

"Harry?" Hermione asked carefully. "I’ve got your potion here, where is Ron?" 

"He's off to get me clean clothes. Thanks Mione." Swimming over to her, he took the vial out of her hand and chucked it down. 

"You already look a bit better. Did something happen while you were gone? I know that look on your face."

Thinking for a second, Harry shook his head. "Nothing important, I just need some food and probably more sleep than I'll get. Want to come in? You really learn to appreciate a good bath when you have to go a few days without one while being covered in mud."

Hermione laughed and shook her head, "No thanks, I don't like that flower scent you added. But Ron probably will if you offer."

Turns out that Harry didn't need to offer anything. The second Ron stepped in he threw the clean clothes on a bench and ripped his own clothes off before cannonballing into the water with a loud scream.

Water flooded the tiles around them and Harry choked on a mouth full of flower scented bathwater he had breathed in while laughing at Hermione's horrified expression. 

When he was able to breathe again, Hermione threw a bottle of shampoo at him that missed him by an inch and slapped against Ron's chest with a loud and painful thud. 

"Honestly, love, why do you always hurt me? I stopped believing in accidents when you broke my nose two days ago!" Ron cried out, rubbing the blooming red spot. 

"I swear, Ron, I don't mean to—" 

"You broke his nose while I was gone?" Harry laughed. 

"He tickled me! You know I don't like that! So it was his own fault!" 

"Yeah but breaking his nose? Come on Mione. That's a bit much don't you think?" 

"It was an accident!" 

When they emerged from the bathroom, Harry decided to drop off his backpack before going to the kitchen to get something to eat. Hermione and Ron were trailing after him, still discussing if 'Hermione's attacks on Ron's life' were accidental or not. Walking into the common room, he was instantly greeted by Neville and Luna, who were obviously waiting for him. Pulling each of them into a hug, he told them to wait there while he put his backpack away then invited them to their second breakfast, or early lunch, in the kitchen. 

Looking around, he was a little disappointed when he couldn't find Malfoy anywhere. Figuring he was probably in his room with the other Slytherins, Harry smiled at his friends before they made their way to the dungeons. 

"So, any plans for today, Harry?" Luna asked while she popped a grape into her mouth. 

"I'll probably go to bed as soon as we finish here," Harry said, barely suppressing a yawn. "If I ever wake up again we can go for a walk before curfew. As long as it doesn't rain, I’ve honestly had enough rain for some time to come."

"It was very sunny here, not a single drop of rain. No idea why that should change now unless you somehow brought it with you. You look a bit rainy to me."

"Other people would call it tired, Luna," Ron laughed. 

"If you think so. I think Harry looks a bit like a sad little rain cloud. Let's see if sleep gives him a bit of his sunshine back."

Rolling his eyes, Ron busied himself with his nearly empty plate again while Harry looked between the two of them, unsure of what to say. 

Just as he finished his plate the door at the far end of the kitchen opened again and Malfoy stepped in, followed by his friends. 

"There's the other rain cloud," Luna mumbled to herself, but Harry heard her. Shooting her a questioning look, Luna only shrugged her shoulders and nodded towards the Slytherins. 

The second they spotted them, the Slytherins came to a halt. Knowing what would come next, Harry jumped up. 

"Stay, we were just about to leave, you can have our table."

Dragging his friends away, Harry tried to catch Malfoy's eyes but he only stared at the ground without looking up even once. A sudden sadness overcame him and Harry left the kitchen without looking back. 

He needed sleep. Sleep meant some time for him alone. And as much as he loved his friends, he could really use some alone time right now. 

When Harry finally shut the curtains around his bed he felt like screaming into his pillow. Of course he wasn't allowed to take a nap straight after returning to their common room, instead he had to sit down by the fire and answer a lot of questions from his friends. Though he managed to ditch most questions about Malfoy by giving vague answers, it seemed to be just enough information to make everyone happy. 

By the time he had finished his recap, the Slytherins had returned from their visit to the kitchen and walked past them without giving them a single glance. But that wasn't the worst of it. The worst was when Harry went to the loo, where he stumbled into Malfoy, who only gave him a short nod and shoved past him without saying a single word; without even looking at him. Harry wanted to call after him, to ask him if this was how things were going to be, but by the time he had turned around Malfoy was gone. 

Harry threw his glasses onto the pillow next to him and buried his face in his hands. It wasn't like Malfoy hadn't warned him that they couldn't keep what they had at the festival, but Harry somehow had still hoped that Malfoy didn't mean it, that they'd at least try. But the way it looked now, Malfoy didn't even want to speak to him anymore. And that hurt Harry more than he had expected. 

Pulling his blanket over his head, Harry decided to stay where he was and not move until he felt better. 

His plan was thwarted by Ron, who dragged him out of bed to get dinner with them, promising that he didn’t need to get out of his joggers for it. Not even motivated in the slightest, Harry followed him to the Great Hall where he sat down and eyed the fried chicken in front of him. 

"You can't tell us you're not hungry, Harry. No matter how tired you are, you have to eat something. I bet you ate nothing but junk food the entire weekend," Hermione said, already filling his plate with food. 

"They had some fantastic pancakes, and I made bacon and eggs Friday morning. And the Muggles we met brought noodles for us while hanging out in our canopy to stay dry. So pretty much no junk food."

"Eat, I won't discuss this with you while you're knackered like this. You're allowed to make decisions again when your brain is back. So probably not before Wednesday."

"Mate the chicken is fantastic as always, you'll like it. Listen to Mione." 

"Exactly, listen to me for once."

Sighing, Harry started to eat and only put his fork down when his plate was empty. Showing it to Hermione, she gave him a smile before shoving a small cup of chocolate pudding in front of him even though he already felt like bursting. 

"Are you going for a walk with Neville tonight? I know you said maybe but I think they are waiting for you, look," Hermione said, nodding towards the door. 

Looking over, Harry saw Neville waving at him with a smile. 

"Yeah, you know what, I think I will," Harry said, already getting up. "Thanks for dragging me out of bed guys. You don't have to stay up and wait for me to come back."

Sprinting towards the door, Harry couldn't stop the smile spreading over his face. "Thanks for waiting for me."

"Luna would have killed me if I came without you," Neville huffed as he led them out of the front door. 

They walked in silence until they reached their small group of trees where Luna was already waiting for them. Turning around, she shot Harry a huge smile before patting the grass next to her for him to sit down. "Glad you came!" 

"Glad you made Neville wait for me," Harry said, smiling at her. 

"Of course, I want to know what really happened."

Sighing, Harry picked up a few small rocks and threw them one by one towards the lake where they hit the surface with small plop before sinking. "I don't know what to tell you."

"Hmmm, we'll see what you have to tell us later then," Luna said while handing them a bar of chocolate each. "I can only guess that it wasn't what you told the others; you don't look very happy."

"I'm not very happy, Luna," Harry sighed.

Leaning into him, Luna rested her head on his shoulder while taking the joint Neville offered her. "You don't have to be happy, no worries. We can handle an unhappy Harry as well."

An hour later, Harry had spilled his heart out, leaving out only small details as he told them what really happened at the festival, and he couldn't believe how much he loved the two of them for not even flinching when it came to him and Malfoy and the fact that he didn't know what to do next, especially since he had no idea what the thing between them really was to begin with and how he was supposed to feel about the entire situation. 

"I don't even know if I like him. Yeah he was fun to be around, but we were high and drunk most of the time, and that's no standard I should base my opinion on!" Harry said, running his hands through his hair. 

"You were neither of those when you went puddle jumping on Saturday and spent ages lying in the mud together listening to the band while holding hands. So it's definitely not just your mind playing tricks on you, and Draco doesn't only open up to you when he's under some kind of influence. That was your real selves there, just Harry and Draco, without everyone watching them."

"I know! But Luna, he won't even look at me now. And he told me he won't tell his friends what happened. He made it pretty clear that we can't keep on being whatever we were but I wouldn't listen and now I don't know what to do because—" Harry broke off and buried his head in his arms. 

"Because?" Luna asked. 

"I don't know."

Looking over at Neville for—Harry didn't even know what—help? His opinion? He was only met by a shrug before Neville ate another piece of chocolate. 

Sighing, Harry looked at Luna, "I think...because I don't want to lose what we had there. I already miss him and it hasn’t even been a day. The thought that it's already done and over with makes me sad, and I don't know how he can pretend like nothing ever happened. I don't know if it really meant nothing to him—but it did for me and I just can't—" Harry felt tears stinging his eyes and he quickly looked away from Luna. 

"Look, Harry, I don't know much about Draco. But what I do know is that he's the most insecure person I’ve ever met. He hated being at the Manor and on the wrong side of the war; he thinks he doesn't belong here now that we're back, and that he doesn't deserve anything good happening to him. He's lonely and afraid. He thinks everyone is looking down on him, even his friends. So why should he think something else of you? The two of you were able to flee reality for a weekend, but that doesn't change how things are going here. You should tell Ron and Hermione and then make sure he knows how you feel."

"But _ I _ don't even really know how I feel," Harry said, fighting against the lump in his throat. 

"You'll figure it out," Neville said. "I think Luna is right, and that you'll find a way."

When the sun set they made their way back to the castle. Harry didn't even look around when he entered their common room. He couldn't bear the thought of being ignored by Malfoy again. Going straight to his bed, he shut the curtains and tried not to think about anything while falling asleep. 

* * *

"Mr Potter, as you may know, I questioned Mr Malfoy earlier today. I must say I'm very satisfied with the results of your assignment. Not only does Mr Malfoy have a better understanding of the non-magical world now, but you also managed to make friends with two Muggles and Mr Malfoy attempted to prepare a breakfast, something he hadn't done before. The results of that attempt aren't important, though I'm happy that nothing worse than burnt toast and fingertips happened, but his descriptions were very vivid. So all in all, if you have nothing to add, you’ve passed this assignment with an Outstanding."

"That's it?" Harry stared at Mr Jacobson, disbelieving. "We nearly drowned in rain, Malfoy got hurt, I still feel like I’m getting sick and all you have to say is 'Well done, he didn't die'?" 

Looking at him with a crooked smile, Mr Jacobson obviously invited Harry to continue, which he, of course, did. 

"I don't even want any praise for that, and I'm not sure what you told Malfoy, but if it was the same lame and boring speech I had to listen to you should go back and fix that immediately! Not only was it way easier to spend the weekend with him than I'd have ever thought, but he also showed an interest in learning and adapting to Muggle things, all while being nice to everyone around us and opening up to 'the friends' we made in a completely secure way by telling stories that were fine for Muggles to hear even though I'm pretty sure he had to leave out major parts of his stories and changed them to be totally safe to tell. He willingly shared his space with Muggles, dragged me to the stage in pouring rain, even went puddle jumping with me: a totally mundane Muggle thing I never got to do thanks to my relatives being the shitheads they are. So excuse me if I don't want to hear any of this if you don't even care enough to give him the praise he truly deserves for this weekend."

"What makes you believe I didn't do that, Mr Potter?" 

"Nobody does, so why would you?" 

Leaning back in his chair, Mr Jacobson contemplated Harry for a while before he started to speak again. "Mr Potter, there's a reason I sent the two of you, and nobody else, to this festival. I knew when I was asked to take this job that I'd have to deal with a bunch of kids who were forced to grow up pretty damn quick. Mr Malfoy, just like you, has everyone staring at him, watching his every step. The public is after the two of you, no matter what you do or where you go. So I sent you away to a small place where I was fairly sure only Muggles would be for the sole purpose to give you two a break, a chance to sort your thoughts and forget, even if only for a short time, that you two fought in a war you didn't want to be a part of. And it looks like you two definitely enjoyed that well deserved break. While you first rejected the thought of going there, especially with him, you're now very protective of Mr Malfoy which makes me believe that my goal of creating a better understanding between the two of you was successful. My job, Mr Potter, is to build bridges between the Wizarding and the Muggle world. And don't you think that is exactly what happened?"

Thinking that over for a second, Harry realised that he was probably right. 

"See, Mr Potter, growing up as a Squib has its benefits. I wasn't really part of the Magical world and most people resented me for what I am. I have no hard feelings against Mr Malfoy and his friends. I'm not part of this ‘Slytherin is evil’ propaganda. Neither am I interested in every step you take like the majority of Wizarding Britain is. My only goal is to help you by teaching you that even if there are differences they aren't too big to overcome."

"You did. I'm sorry I assumed things without knowing all the facts. It's just how things have always worked here, and it's easy to get angry about it," Harry said with a sigh, already chiding himself for throwing assumptions around. 

"I know, and that's the thing, isn't it? We have to change how things work—and what better way to start than by changing the way your generation thinks."

Harry nodded, looking down at his hands. He hadn't looked at it that way but Mr Jacobson was right. Only a few days were enough to completely change Harry's mind about Malfoy. Of course not every assignment would end with students snogging each other, but he saw where Mr Jacobson was coming from. 

"If you have nothing else to add, you're free to leave for your next class. Mrs Granger wanted to have a word about her plans for the assignment I gave her, and knowing your friend, this will take a while."

Harry looked up to find Mr Jacobson smiling at him and he wondered how often Hermione had visited his office since she got her assignment. 

Making his way out of the office, he nearly ran into Hermione, who was standing right in front of the door with a huge stack of parchments in her arms, and Harry couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for Mr Jacobson. Deciding to skip the last ten minutes of History of Magic, he turned left and went straight to Transfiguration. 

When he arrived at the Headmistress’s classroom the first few students were already walking in so Harry decided to join them, hoping to get a place in the last row so he could take full advantage of it for once. But his plan changed as soon as he spotted Malfoy sitting there already scribbling on a piece of parchment. 

Taking a careful look around, Harry slipped into the empty spot next to him and started to get his notes out. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Malfoy tense up, but at least he didn't try to move to another seat, which was a small win for Harry. It'd gather way too much attention if he had to follow him somewhere else. 

To his relief, Neville was the next one to enter the classroom. It didn't even take him a second to realise what he was seeing and he instantly took the place next to Harry, sheltering them from curious eyes. 

As soon as the classroom was full, McGonagall started to recap last week's topic but Harry was having trouble concentrating on what she was saying. Shortly after, a note appeared on his desk and Harry stared down at it in surprise. 

_ 'What are you doing here, Potter?' _

Ignoring his quill, Harry picked up his pen to scribble down his answer. 

_ 'Sitting next to a friend, what does it look like to you?' _

Shoving the parchment back, he heard the scratching of Malfoy's quill. 

_ 'We're not friends.' _

_ 'What are we then?' _

_ 'Nothing…' _

Harry furrowed his brows at that word before vigorously crossing it out. 

_ 'Try again.' _

_ 'Stop behaving like a child, Potter. We can't be anything.' _

_ 'We can. Meet me after dinner?' _

Harry's heart beat in his throat as he shoved the parchment towards Malfoy. It felt like hours had passed before he got the parchment back. Malfoy had only added one word. 

_ 'Where?' _

_ 'My room. Ron won't be around tonight.' _

He didn't get an answer, but he didn't need one. Now he only had to talk with Ron and Hermione before dinner. It couldn't be that hard, could it? 

Turns out that it was harder than expected. First, he had to get Hermione out of the library which was, on its own, an act of willpower before dragging his friends into his room and sitting them down without looking too guilty. Which he seemingly failed spectacularly at. 

"What did you do?" Hermione shot out before Harry could even open his mouth. "Whatever it is, don't drag me into this. I have an assignment to plan."

"Love, your assignment is fine, I read all twenty-five pages. I don't know what else you could add," Ron said, patting Hermione's hand. 

"Because you have no clue!" she bit out before taking a deep breath and looking back at Harry. "But right, sorry Harry. It seems to be important, so tell us what happened."

Fidgeting nervously with his blanket, Harry looked from Ron to Hermione, not knowing where to start. But he had to start at some point. Taking a deep breath, he looked down at his feet. 

"I haven't told you everything about the festival. And I left a quite important part out because I wasn't sure how you'd react."

"Why would you be afraid of our reaction?" Hermione asked, eyes going wide. 

"It's—complicated. And important for me and I'm afraid you'll judge me for it."

"Whatever it is we won't judge you. We're not judging you for sneaking out with Neville to smoke weed, which is highly illegal may I remind you, so what worse thing could you have done?" Hermione huffed and rolled her eyes at him as Harry's chin positively dropped to the ground. 

"Malfoy and I spent most of the weekend snogging; now he’s stopped speaking to me because he thinks he doesn't deserve to be happy and I need you two to find another place to sleep tonight because I want to sort things out with him," Harry blurted out. 

"What?" Ron asked, clearly in some state of shock. 

"I mean," Harry said, rubbing his neck, "he's really not that bad. We had loads of fun and then things happened. And—I'd like to keep what we had, but he—I really need to talk to him. And I hope you'll be fine with that."

"Mate—" Ron started but Hermione broke him off. 

"We'll be fine. If you like him now, it means he has changed. We all saw him last year and know what he went through. It won't be easy, Harry, and I can't promise you that I won't kill him if he ends up hurting you, but we'll be fine."

"Why by Merlin's long, dangling balls did you fall for _ Malfoy _ ?" Ron cried out, seemingly not capable of keeping it to himself a second longer. "I'd understand Zabini, that guy is hot as hell, but _ Malfoy _?! Mate, honestly?" 

"Ron!" Hermione screeched, appalled, while Harry burst out laughing. 

"Yeah, don't know what came over me there. Zabini really does look nice, doesn't he?" 

Ron wiggled his eyebrows, which instantly earned him a slap on his arm from Hermione. 

"One other word about Zabini and you'll be sleeping in the common room tonight, Ron. Harry we're good, just—be careful. And take us with you next time you go with Neville. If you need me, I'll be back at the library." With that she got up and left, leaving Harry to stare after her while Ron couldn't keep the grin off his face. 

"So, what was that about?" Harry asked. 

"Oh, you know, I caught her painting Parkinson's nails in their room the other night and she couldn't stop speaking about her perfect hands so I came up with how hot I think Zabini is to make her realise how she sounded. Didn't go down too well, but it's fun to see her blush over something like that," Ron grinned. 

"Wait, Hermione painted Parkinson's nails? They’re on friendly terms?" 

"Friendly enough that I have to worry that Parkinson will steal my girl if I don't watch out. What even is it with those Slytherins?" 

"Honestly, Ron, I don't know," Harry sighed. "But I'm glad you're cool with it. I was worried—" 

"Hermione knew it would happen, she warned me when you left. I had the entire weekend to prepare for this."

Harry laughed and let himself fall backwards onto his bed—of course Hermione knew, so did Luna. He should stop questioning his friends and just accept the fact that they knew everything before he did. 

After that, dinner came quicker than he thought. At one point he was sitting with Ron in his room and discussing Hermione's strange new obsession with Parkinson, then he suddenly was in the Great Hall staring down at his food while trying to think of something to say to Malfoy, then he suddenly was back in his room, not knowing what to do with himself anymore while he waited. 

He had already tidied up, sorted his cleaned laundry into his wardrobe, started his homework, and had given up on it just as quickly as he has started. Dinner had ended thirty minutes ago and with every second ticking by he got more and more worried that Malfoy wouldn't come. 

Throwing himself onto his bed, Harry let out a groan as he buried his face in his pillow. If Malfoy thought he'd get out of this by simply ignoring him further he was wrong. 

"Is that the way you intended to greet me? Moaning into your pillow?" a voice behind him said. 

Harry jumped up so fast he nearly fell over, but Malfoy caught him, giving Harry the feeling of déjà vu. 

"Honestly, you have to stop stumbling around like an idiot, Potter. You'll break your neck one day."

Looking up, Harry blurted out the only thing he could think of. "I thought you wouldn't come."

"I had to get rid of Pansy first. Thankfully, Granger seems to have a new found passion of purchasing nail polish she just has to test on Pansy."

"Yeah I heard that."

Now that Malfoy was here Harry didn't know what to say anymore, sitting down on his bed, he tried to gather his thoughts into a coherent sentence, but he seemingly didn't have to. 

"Granger's timing isn't by any chance related to us meeting here?" Malfoy asked carefully. 

"It might be."

"So you told them?" 

"Yes. Them, and Neville, and Luna."

"Why?"

"Because I want to—uhm, keep you around, and stuff. So I told them."

"—keep me around and...stuff."

"Yes. Listen, I know you said we can't do what we did once we got back. But I—I really want us to at least try it."

"Try it? And then? You'll get tired of me, we'll stop seeing each other, and then people will hate me even more than they already do because I dared to touch their Golden Boy. Or—or people will talk shit about me, and you'll believe them, do you know the rumours about me? Have you heard them? They say I don't deserve to be free, to be here with my friends, and they are right! I don't deserve all of this, and being with you would only make everything worse. They'd be after you, and one day you'll see that what I'm telling you now is right, and you'll leave, and I can't—I can't do that." 

Watching Malfoy, who was pacing the room while obviously being on the brink of a breakdown, Harry didn't know what to do to make him stop and listen to him. Doing the only thing he could think of, he jumped up from his bed and pulled Malfoy into his arms, hugging him close while waiting for him to calm down. 

When Malfoy started to relax, Harry moved them towards his bed, "Sit. Calm down. It'll be okay."

"No it won't." 

Sitting down, he waited till Malfoy sat down next to him. Brushing a strand of stray hair out of Malfoy's face, Harry looked him in his eyes, seeing nothing but pain and fear. 

"Draco, listen to me," Malfoy's eyes widened and Harry continued, happy to have his attention, "I don't care what others say about you. Nothing they could say would change my mind. I won't say it'll be easy, we both know that's not true—we'll fight, we'll scream, we'll have disagreements. We have a past we can't ignore and that'll make things complicated. But believe me when I say that I still think it's worth it, and that we can make this work if we want to, no matter what everyone thinks. My friends are fine with us, and yours will be too. They want us to be happy, and we'll work on it until you'll see that you do, in fact, deserve all the happiness. Please, let's try this."

Malfoy looked down at his hands, seemingly thinking about what Harry had said. Shaking his head, he laughed before leaning into Harry's side, "You'll be the death of me, Potter. This will never work out."

Smiling, Harry took Malfoy's hand into his own before pressing a soft kiss onto his hair. "You'll see, it will."

* * *

**EPILOGUE**

  
"Harry! Draco! You're back! And you brought friends! Which of you is Neville? I want to kiss you for making our festival great last year!" 

Harry laughed as Harmony sprinted towards them and simply pulled everyone into a hug and smacked a kiss on each cheek before Neville could do so much as lift his hand. 

When she reached Harry and Draco she pulled them into her arms with an excited squeal. "I knew you'd come again! I knew it! We bought your tickets even before you sent your email! Anne said I was crazy but I told her to shut up. And I was right!" 

"Yeah, how could we stay away from here? I just hope we won't get as much rain as last year," Draco said as she let go of them. 

"We'll see, you two adapted pretty quickly to the weather so I'm not that worried that you can't do it again."

"As long as Harry will be around to keep my feet warm we'll survive," Draco laughed as he gathered their stuff out of Hermione's car. 

"Stop being all lovey-dovey, you'll make me puke," Pansy sighed as she locked up her own car. "So this is it, huh? Doesn't look as spectacular as you two made it sound."

"It'll be fun Pansy, stop being so negative," Luna said, coming back from Hermione's trunk loaded down with three tents and two canopies. Dropping her load to the ground, she looked between Anne and Harmony, who were both watched her curiously. When Luna's face split into a grin, Anne quirked her brow, seemingly unsure what to think of her. 

"I love your hair! Did you make those yourself?" Harry laughed as Luna stepped forward to inspect Anne's dreads excitedly. "Can you make my hair also look like this?" 

"Told you they'd get along," Harry whispered into Draco's ear. He laughed as Harry smacked a kiss onto his cheek. 

When they stepped through the entrance Harry saw, to his delight, that the corner where they had set up their tent last year was still empty. Grinning at Draco, he took him by his hand and led their group towards it, excited to be here again.

He couldn't help but laugh out loud when, as he hammered their last tent peg into the ground, the first drops of rain started to fall down on them. 

**Author's Note:**

> I would love it if you leave a comment or kudos for my fic 💜
> 
> [Visit me on tumblr!](https://gnarf.tumblr.com/)


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